


The Seekerling

by Crossovers_R_Us



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Except Voldemort, M/M, No one is evil, Transformer Sparklings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:48:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23507131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crossovers_R_Us/pseuds/Crossovers_R_Us
Summary: To bleed the Earth of all its resources the Decepticons kidnap twenty members of the Wizarding Community to experiment on. When Harry is the only one who survives the experiment he is renamed Windfall and given to his kidnapper to raise as their own. Still possessing his memories Harry attempts to escape his imprisonment.As Harry recovers the forces of Professor Dumbledore, Lord Voldemort, Optimus Prime, and Megatron all begin to slowly converge into an intergalactic war likes the universe had never seen.(I don't know what to tag this under)
Relationships: Jazz/Prowl, Skyfire/Starscream (Transformers)
Comments: 34
Kudos: 133





	1. Chapter 1

Failure was never a good look for the Decepticons. Their newest project bore…less than ideal results. One surviving experiment out of twenty was better than none though. After trying to harvest as much as possible out of the glorified mudball called Earth the Cybertronions discovered a subspecies of the human race. 

Their numbers were few but the energy they gave off piqued the rebel faction’s interest. Carbon-based lifeforms all emitted electricity to some degree. This subspecies however produced on par with a full-grown mech. Proportionally speaking that is. 

Shockwave theorized that if they could place the source of that energy into a protoform they could increase their numbers for the cause. Who knows, maybe the weak sparked Autobots would take issue with destroying the very creatures they claimed to protect. With Lord Megatron’s blessing, the Seekers jetted off to collect potential new recruits. 

Flatline was halfway through the nineteen subjects when Blitzwing finally showed up several megacycles after the rest of the team. He bore a single, small human with a pleased look on his faceplate. Shockwave examined the statis locked human as it was deposited onto the waiting area. While he was getting scanned for processing, Blitzwing placed a stick on top of the human’s form.

“Only one?” Starscream smirked, folding his arms. He looked as smug as ever since he collected three humans at once. 

“This one put up a fight.” Smiled the triple changer brushing a servo over his left optical to draw attention to the scorch marks there. “Hit me with a blast from that weapon there.” He motioned to the carved stick resting atop his prize. 

Shockwave gave the weapon a scan for good measure. From his findings, it was a fusion of a fruit-bearing tree and an avian. It was a conduit, nothing more. Still, human weapons were known for launching small projectiles at one another, nothing that can really hurt a Cybertronian. No time to dwell on that, there was work to be done.

One by one the subject’s spark faded. All except the subject Blitzwing brought in. Scalpel wanted to dissect the newly minted Decepticon to see if the added weapon helped to stabilize the spark. He was quickly thrown across the room for his troubles. Under the careful watch of Flatline, Shockwave, and surprisingly Blitzwing the protoform and human melted into one. After four long Earth lunar cycles on careful observation, their creation finally onlined its optics.  
—

“I was not expecting this.” Flatline stated to the rest of the observation team. None of the mechs present had expected the coding that came with undergoing the experiment. Kneeling next to the medical berth of Subject_20 Blitzwing carefully offered his servo to the awake subject. 

The once agile human was now barely able to move. His motions were clumsy, his speech was nothing more than gibberish. He was unable to process even the lowest grade of Energon. If it wasn't for Soundwave they would've lost this one too.

“It’s like dealing with a sparkling.” Scalpel said. Despite it being a slight against their efforts Flatline and Shockwave straightened up. Glancing over at their creation they could now hear the battle-hardened warrior croon in Seeker speak. There were so many questions racing through both mech’s processors. The main one was, ‘Who was going to tell Megatron?’  
—

“Bring it to me,” Megatron ordered from his throne. He didn’t have to wait long since Shockwave had Flatline bring the sparkling when they went to tell their Leader. Extending his servos to his Lord they waited for the chaos about to reign down. Fearing the worst Flatline skipped his morning ration since he was sure he was going to purge after witnessing the brutal murder of one so young. Subject_20 fussed under the harsh gaze of their Leader. When Megatron reached out to touch the sparkling Flatline shut off his optics. 

What he didn’t see was the warlord touching the top of the small Cybertrionian’s helm to then travel down its faceplate. Megatron jerked back his servo peering down at the small bead of Energon form on one of the digits. The sparkling had bitten him! 

Deep within him, a long-forgotten feeling flickered. He recalled a time when he too struck out against his oppressors. Looking away from his servo he met optics with sparkling glaring up at him. A smile graced his faceplate.

“Does he have a designation yet?”

“No my Lord,” Shockwave spoke up first.

“Very good.” Megatron leaned forward to look the glaring sparkling directly in the optics. “You shalk be known as 'Windfall' now.”

“Sir?” Flatline spoke still holding the sparkling out as an offering, too scared to move. 

“The soldiers have become dull in this stalemate with the Autobot scum. This reminder of what they are fighting for will reinvigorate their sparks to finally tilt the battle in our favor.” Megatron leaned back in his throne to dismiss his underlings. When both mechs had disappeared he examined his bite wound. He had worse injuries from cracked datapads sure but the spirit the sparkling had shown him what saved its life this day. 

Rubbing away the now dry Energon Megatron began to plan to introduce the newest member of the Decepticons to a ship full of an overbearing, overprotective, psychotic group of soldiers. With a twisted smile on his faceplate allowed himself to daydream about an older Windfall sitting atop his back struts. They were both standing over the battlefield watching as the Autobot army was being slaughtered under their gaze.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Due to creator guilt with how short the first chapter is I decided to post this early. Not really edited or anything. Thanks for all the comments and kudos.

“Why does he look like that?” Skywarp asked leaning to get a better look at the recharging Windfall. He was told the new Decepticon was matte silver, not tan. He reached his index digit to feel the strings protruding the top of its helm. He was secretly delighted in the softness of the midnight colored strands. Blitzwing pulled his new charge to his chest with a warning growl. He about tore off the Seeker’s arm during the fight yesterday.

The brawl for the privilege of being Windfall’s guardian crowned Blitzwing the winner. Everyone present still bore the scratches and dents from their struggles.

“Maybe it's his alt mode,” Thundercracker said, pulling his trine mate away from danger. 

“Trouble in paradise already? It hasn’t even been a full Breem!” Starscream mocked safely behind his other trine members. 

“If you’re going to fight, at least do so outside the medbay.” Flatline called out from across the room. He was currently patching up a less fortunate mech who challenged Blitzwing. “Windfall’s fuel is sitting by the door. He isn’t able to refuel by himself yet so keep that in mind.” 

“Maybe he just needs to go for a flight.” Suggested the mech getting his chest plating worked on. 

“Nobody asked you.” Yelled the Seeker trine and Blitzwing as one. Blitzwing subspaced the Windfall’s fuel to exit the medbay in huff. 

“You’re just mad you didn’t think of it first,” Skywarp muttered under his breath.   
\---  
When Harry finally regained complete consciousness he almost passed out again. The giant mechanical humanoid creatures were still there. With some serious effort, he was able to move his arms and legs more fluid now. Managing to sit up Harry got a good look at his surroundings. The first thing Harry noticed was he was in a bell-shaped glass prison. Crawling over the edge he used the glass surface to wobbly stand up. The pillow-like floor covering of his enclosure didn’t help either. As Harry looked for an exit the sound of hydraulics caught his ear. 

Noticing Harry was awake the tan and purple mechanical man made his way across the room. With the level of gentleness that he’d only seen Hagrid possess, the man twisted and then lifted off the entire glass portion of Harry’s enclosure. Losing his balance Harry fell back on his butt. Thankfully the floor was so plush. In response, the mech (it sounded right in Harry’s head) held a hand to try and help him stand again. His body felt heavy but after a few tries, he managed to stand on his own feet. 

During the whole thing, the mech talked in what could be considered a gentle tone. Despite every fiber of his instincts screaming at him, Harry felt safe enough to try and communicate with the other. What came out though was a strange cough. For some reason that got a laugh from the purple mech. Body calling it quits Harry tried to lower himself down before collapsing in a heap. Expecting this Harry was caught and gently placed back in the middle of the floor of his prison by the mech. The dome above him was returned leaving Harry sealed off from the rest of the room.   
Instead of leaving the mech lowered himself down disappearing over the edge of, what Harry can only assume was a shelf. When the lights went out Harry realized exactly where he was.   
He was in this thing’s bedroom! Like some sort of pet. Groaning loudly Harry felt the tendrils of sleep cloud his mind.  
\---

Neville tried to appear casual as he watched Hermione from the corner of his eye. Judging by the way she threw the Daily Prophet away from her it wasn’t good news. Or any news for that matter. Ron shook his head setting down his spoon in his half-eaten stew. It was going on five months now that Harry had been missing. According to Ron, Harry had been invited to the Quidditch world cup but when they got there his relatives claimed he never came home one night. Ron looked ready to kill when he regaled how Harry’s family didn’t even bother to report him to even the Muggle police. 

While Ron seemed to spend most of his days in an unfocused daze, Hermione went the opposite direction. Even now she was ignoring the fragrant beef stew with fresh hot rolls in favor of reading. Her bloodshot eyes scoured the page fervently looking for an answer within the pages. If the thickness of the book she was reading was anything to go by she’d spend another night in the common room. 

Getting up Neville needed to be out of this room. The stark contrast between Ron and Hermione next to the rest of the happy giggling student body was too much. Not looking at his friends as he passed by Neville kept his head down as he exited the Great Hall. Past the pockets of students all wrapped up in their little world. Noticing the double doors leading to the outside lawns was wide open Neville stepped out for some fresh air. Looking up he noticed that the moon was waning. Just the barest of a crescent could be seen. 

None of the students milling around paid much attention to the Gryffindor as he followed the path he always took to the greenhouses. Maybe Professor Sprout would like some help. Just outside Greenhouse Three Neville heard a light tinkling in the wind. Like the sound of a single wind chime. But why would anyone have one wind-?

Then it struck him. It was a waning moon and the time of year made it Rainbell Mushroom season! Right before the rain turned to snow the Rainbell would release its spores. The only way to find them is to follow the sound they made when the wind hit them. The thrill of seeing such an elusive item in its natural habitat (and possibly collect some spores) overrode any caution the teen would normally possess. 

Finding the Rainbell was surprisingly easy. It was only a few feet into the Forbidden Forest and perched proudly on a log. Smiling at the light lilac truffle shaped growth Neville failed to notice the drop off hidden in the gloom. His yelp of surprise/pain was cut off by him landing face-first into a pile of leaves. Getting his wits about him he heard something approach. Something big. The heavy footsteps stopped right above where Neville was lying. 

“I thought I heard something over here.” Came a voice he’d never heard before. An American voice at that. “Aren’t you a beauty?” The voice possessed a bit of a country drawl to it.   
“Hound?” Boomed the voice of Hagrid joining the conversation. 

“Sorry, Hagrid. I thought I heard something out this way and I did. See?” Looking up Neville’s eyes almost bulged out of his head. Hands large enough to carry him as a doll gestured over his head. Fearing he was done for all Neville could do was wait for him to be pulled out into the open.

“Yeah. That's great. I see those all the time. Bloody distracting when you’re trying to sleep.” Hagrid replied dismissively. Neville could laugh, they were talking about the mushroom. Neither of them knew he was there. 

“Well, I’ve never seen them. They don’t grow near my glen.”

“Aye. Too much traffic I suppose.” Hagrid tried to sound lighthearted. A heavy silence settled between the two of them.  
“Hound. I-”

“I know what you’re going to ask.” Hound interjected his voice sounded louder as if he was turning towards Neville’s direction. “But please. Don’t. You won't like the answer.”

“I never asked anything from you before.” Hagrid took a deep breath steeling himself. “But I need to know. Is Harry still alive?”

“If the reports are true and the Deceptions took him...then yes. Your Harry Potter is dead.” Said Hound. 

The sound of Neville’s cry of despair was drowned out by Hagrid’s. 

“It can't be. It just.” Hagrid stammered briefly before excusing himself. A few painful seconds stretched on with only the sound of the Rainbell to fill the space.   
“Now then. Let's see what we got here.” Neville yelped as he was pulled up off the ground by the back of his robes like a scruffed cat. As if he weighed nothing at all the giant brought Neville level with its glowing cerulean eyes. 

“I just wanted the mushroom.” Was all Neville could say.   
\---

Harry had no idea what the glowing mirror thing was but he loved it. When the purple/tan mech originally showed it to him Harry just looked at it blankly. It looked like a mirror encased in a pale blue metal frame. Expecting Harry’s confusion he gave Harry a crash course on how to use the thing. How to turn it on, and where the inkless pen went when not in use. There were three different pictures he could choose from depending on what he wanted to do. One with a symbol that appeared to be a language guide. Complete with sound when he traced over the symbol. Hermione would love that one. 

Hermione would love the math one as well. Harry liked to ignore that one. The final program was his favorite. When he first tried it out he was met with a blank white page with tiny symbols lined up on the left. After messing around with it he realized he could draw whatever he wanted on it. Which is what he was doing when the purple/tan mech came in. Annoyed Harry put away his pen knowing what was coming next. 

Today was different, however. Instead of walking around the bed or shelf, the mech carried Harry out of the room. With every step, his insides swirled between fear and curiosity. When they rounded a corner he noticed the three new mechs appeared to be waiting for them. Not that Harry paid them any mind. He could see the outside world just behind them! Taking Harry’s excitement as a positive sign the mech began to talk at him again. Ignoring him Harry leaned as far as he could trying to catch a glimpse of the outside world.   
“Do you want to go flying Windfall?” A new voice asked. Startled, Harry looked around to see who was talking. There was a flurry of movement as Harry was pressed into the purple/tan mech’s chest coupled with the sound of metal on metal. 

“But he responded.” Protested the same voice from before. “I don’t think he knows Cybertronian yet. Look, he's paying attention right now. Wave your servo if you understand me.” Harry was guessing ‘servo’ meant hand as he copied the motion the blue mech was making. 

“Nice work T.C.” Smiled the purple/black one. “My designation is Skywarp.” He greeted leaning in to get a good look at Harry. “And this Starscream and Thundercracker. We’re all the same model, is that great? Well, except for Blitzy here.”

“I was hoping we wouldn’t have to stoop to speaking like the dirt creatures.” Groused the mech holding Harry. “We’ll have you speaking like a proper Cybertroian in no time. For the time being you may refer to me as Blitzwing.” 

There was a pause as if the four of them were expecting Harry to say something back. 

“Maybe he has a glitch.” Snarked Starscream walking towards the exit. Blitzwing walked just as casual behind him to give him a solid one-handed shove out the door. Starscream gave a panic yell as he disappeared out of sight. When Harry’s eye adjusted to the bright light he realized just how far up they were. Seeing the craggy cliffside they were on caused Harry to make a noise.   
“He’ll be fine. He’s Starscream.” Skyward assured Harry. He then jumped off the edge of the cliff. In midair, his entire body shifted to turn into a fighter plane. Starscream transformed from the ground and Thundercracker followed after them. Staring after them some questions he had were starting to make sense. Like how do a group of mechanized two-story beings function without Muggles or Wizards knowing?  
Could they all do that? Just transform into planes and the like and no one was the wiser? 

As Harry watched the three of them fly around all he could do was wonder how many others like them were on this planet.  
\---

Neville looked up at Hogwarts with a groan. He’d been locked out of the Gryffindor Tower loads of time sure, but he’d never gotten himself locked outside the castle. He could try Hagrid’s….but that would involve admitting he was out after hours in the Forbidden Forest.

“No luck?” Hound asked, coming up behind Neville. Hound, Neville found out, had a long complicated backstory he did not wish to share. When Neville stated he just wanted to look at the Rainbell it seemed that's all they needed for the alien (the young Gryffindor was still processing that) to see him as an ally. When asked what he was the light blue metal man said he was from space but that wasn’t important. No, what Hound cared about was what Neville could tell him about the various plants around them. 

“No. Guess I can always try to sleep in greenhouse one.”   
“Or you could just come with me.” Hound suggested taking a few steps backward. Looking away from the castle Neville gave a pained smile up at his new friend. Sure they talked for several hours to the point where the alien commented most humans were asleep by one am. 

Sure they spoke non-stop about plants and what exactly Hound was but it still felt awkward. Before Neville could voice his reservation Hound’s body began shifting. Mouth agape he could only stare at the car now sitting in front of him. He’d seen that car two years ago in the Daily Prophet. 

“You’re...you’re Ron’s car.” 

“Ron? Oh yeah, him. Terrible driver. All these dents are from him. Oh and the spiders. Hop in,” Hound popped open the passenger door. Figuring it was safer in the car than in a greenhouse full of plants with the word ‘carnivorous’ in the name Neville climbed in. With a slam Hound carted off towards the little bit of forest, he called home, chattering away about the curious yellow flowers that grew there.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Planning 'The Big Reveal' is going to kill me.

Even though he was alone Harry felt like any second he was going to be caught. Datapad in his lap he jotted down as much as he could about where he was and what was going on. He hoped if Blitzwing or anyone else got a hold of it would see nothing more than a diary. The first time he tried this he went to date the entry but realized he had no idea what day it was. For all, he knew it was Christmas! Refusing to feel (more) sorry for himself he labeled the entry ‘Entry One’. 

While he worked on Entry Seven there was the telltale sound of the door opening. Expecting Blitzwing Harry made to finish his sentence rather than acknowledge the mech. 

“I was not expecting that to work,” Skywarp announced to the room. Looking up from his datapad Harry saw the purple/black mech examine a thin sheet of transparent plastic with a gold square in the middle. It reminded Harry of one of Uncle Vernon’s work credit cards. 

“Could be dangerous in the wrong servos.” Skywarp laughed at his own joke as he stored the card away. With a bright smile, he made his way over towards Harry.

“Oh good, you’re awake. Today I’m taking you flying. Doesn’t that sound fun Windy?” 

Harry didn’t know what he hated more, that fact they renamed him ‘Windfall’ or the awful nickname it came with. Not expecting an answer Skywarp lifted the lid off Harry’s enclosure to collect the human. Clutching the datapad to his chest all Harry could feel was terror at what was going to happen to him next. When they reached the always open entranceway the mech stopped to address Harry. 

“Now normally I hate carrying anything in my cockpit but today I’ll make an exception. Blitzy says you’re too young to fly yet but we both know better.” Skywarp gave Harry a slick smile that reminded him painfully of Sirius. If he dwelled on it too much Harry would’ve realized he had spent more time with someone who reminded him of Sirius than the actual Sirius. But he wasn’t dwelling on that. He was too anxious about what was going to happen next. 

There was the sound of Skywarp transforming before he was dropped into the yellow tinted cockpit. As Harry fumbled for some sort of restraint, the now jet’s engines began to warm up. In a heartbeat they were airborne. The pressure on his body was immense. When they leveled out Harry felt like he could breathe again. If it wasn’t for the sound of the jet engines Harry would’ve noticed how odd his panting sounded. Human but with the sound a computer makes when the fan kicks on. 

“Now for the fun part.” Said the disembodied voice of Skywarp.  
\---  
Maybe it was Hound’s excitable nature that spurred Neville to go outside his comfort zone. Or maybe Neville always had a reckless streak buried inside him. Whatever it was Neville found himself out late again, this time on a school night. The first task was two days away and there was a buzzing of excitement in the air. Hermione and Ron had been sent to the Hospital Wing for their emotional breakdowns. Tucked away in last Thursday’s evening Prophet was a small article that shattered their world. 

Nineteen mangled bodies found dumped in the Amazon jungle. All missing members from the magical community. No names were given yet but people were being urged to step forward to try and help identify the bodies. Watching Harry’s two best friends finally come unglued at the news of their friend’s brutal murder was unspeakably horrible. 

A substitute Care for Magical Creatures had to be brought in for Hagrid. Hound hadn’t heard a word from the man since. Ginny had pretty much attached herself to her older twin brothers whenever she did make an appearance. Rumor had it that the whole lot was going to be pulled out of school soon. Hermione included. 

The worst part was Neville couldn’t tell them what had happened. Sure there was going to be a global investigation but no one would think alien abduction gone wrong. No. When Harry’s body was disentangled from the rest the Ministry would try to keep everything hush-hush. A small funeral would be given (maybe) and the world would keep turning. Neville wished he could stop the gnawing guilt he was feeling.

“I can feel you thinking.” Hound commented. The two were currently driving through a well-worn path through the Forbidden Forest. 

“Am I a bad person?” This wasn't the first time they discussed Neville telling his friends what was going on in the world. 

“No. Your friends lack self-control. If they knew about the Decepticons they would try joining the Autobots that same klik.” Hound assured him as they reached the edge of the forest.  
“I don't know about that,” Neville argued as he got out of the car. 

“Fighting trolls. Midnight duels. Infiltrating an ancient mythical chamber to battle the equally ancient evil that lay within it. Are we talking about those friends?” Hound lowered his volume as they walked towards the lake. Neville went to point out the hypocrisy of him being out after dark in the Forbidden Forest when a loud sound shook the earth. 

“What was that?” 

“I thought you could tell me. Come on let's get a closer look.” Hound said scoping Neville up to carry him the rest of the way. The hypocrisy level rose the closer they got to the-

“Dragons.” Breathed Neville. As he and Hound watched, several wizards shouted at one another as they used their combined magic to subdue the beasts.  
“Are these the strongest beasts on your planet?” Hound asked not looking away from the spectacle. 

“Umm...there are others but dragons can fly and breath fire...so I guess?” 

There was a pause between them. Hound’s hand moved to cup the smaller human against his chest.  
\---  
Harry blacked out before he found out what Skywarp meant by 'fun part'. Maybe it was the weird liquid diet they feed him that made him so weak. Feed him well enough not to starve but not strong enough to escape.

"Don't worry. He won't try something like that again. I made sure of that." Blitzwing said that last sentence come out as a growl.

Not that it was saying much, but Harry had never been to this side of the compound before. Nevertheless, he made sure to memorize the way back towards the room so he could go to the exit. The grip Blitzwing had on him was firmer than usual. Pushing a button one of the many doors down the corridor they waited. The door slid aside revealing a mostly dark blue mech. His eyes were just a solid stripe of blood-red with the rest of his face completely covered with a light grey facemask. Subconsciously Harry shied away from the imposing-looking mech.  


“Windfall, this is Soundwave. He’s going to protect you while I am on patrol.” 

“Place sparkling there.” Soundwave had the most stereotypical robotic voice one could imagine for a robot. Blitzwing followed the pointed finger to an orange rectangle sitting on Soundwave’s workstation. The rectangle sagged a little under Harry’s weight but was oddly comfortable despite the material feeling like a sponge. 

“Here is your datapad.” Blitzwing produced the item, handing it to Harry. Turning to Soundwave then said, “I’ll comm you when I am on my way back.” 

Soundwave did not answer as he went back to his array of glowing dials and levers. When the door slid shut Harry was now alone with his new jailer. Not wanting to forget the way here from his usual prison Harry got out his pen to write his new entry. When he was finished he began drawing to cover what he was working on. He had so many pages of drawings he’d done in his spare time. They were memories mostly. 

They were not the best drawings but even his crude sketches of his friends and his real home always brought a small smile to his face. Halfway through another Hedwig drawing, Soundwave decided to pay attention to Harry.

“Requesting progress report of reading and mathematical proficiency.” Stated the blue mech holding out his hand towards Harry. Harry looked from the hand to the covered face staring blankly down at him to the hand again. Not getting a response the mech took the initiative and plucked the datapad right out of the wizard’s grip. The device flashed an array of colors. 

“Unsatisfactory progress.” He announced. Harry merely rolled his eyes. Like he cared! Once he was back with his fellow wizards he vowed never to use anything they tried to teach him here. Especially math. If the mech recognized the disrespect he was receiving he chose to ignore it. 

“Curriculum updated. Initiate education point here.” Soundwave handed back the datapad showing a string of the same glyphs he’d halfhearted been looking over. Rolling his eyes again Harry went to press the part of the screen to get back to the select screen. When the datapad refused to obey Harry he glared up at the mech focusing on the screens in front of him. Pettiness winning over he set the datapad next to him on the cushion in a clear act of defiance. He could handle being bored. Just like he was handling being hungry. 

Looking around he began to wonder if he could slip away while his jailer was occupied. 

“Unacceptable.” Spoke the mech causing Harry to jump. A light grey hand reached out pulling the cushion closer towards him. He turned Harry to where the large mech could peer over his shoulder. 

“Initiate alphabet learning.” He instructed the mech going back to pressing buttons. Grumbling Harry began to trace the new letters to the best of his ability. Like before once the symbol had been completely traced it made a sound. When Harry remained quiet he received a light tap on his back. When Harry looked up to glare at Soundwave the mech made the noise again. Frustrated Harry made the weird strangled noise he made whenever he tried to talk. That got Soundwave’s full attention. 

Used to the treatment Harry allowed himself to be tucked into the crook of the mech’s left arm. He used to fight Blitzwing but it always ended with him exhausting himself to the point of passing out. If these beings wanted to hurt him they would’ve done so already. 

That thought was lost when a finger was pressed against his throat. Not enough to hurt but the large digit did force him to look up. Green locked with blood-red as Soundwave made the noise a third time. Without hesitation, Harry attempted to make the noise himself again. Not saying anything the mech placed him on the floor took a few steps towards the door. Halfway there Soundwave pressed a button on his left shoulder.

“Rumble. Frenzy. Operation: keep sparkling safe.” Soundwave produced two much smaller mechs. One was mostly purple and the other mostly black. When the door closed behind Soundwave the two rushed over to meet Harry. 

“Sparkling? Don’t look like no sparkling I’ve seen?” The black/red one commented.

“Seen a lot of sparklings have yah?” Quipped back the purple/light blue. Both mechs turned fully to one another to start a shouting match. Realizing he might never get another opportunity like this Harry calmly began to walk towards the wall. He had spotted a gap in the thick wires that had been fed through the wall.

As he examined the gap he heard the two mechs stop arguing in favor of trading blows now. Shoving his datapad through the narrow opening Harry then followed after. His joy was short-lived though. Picking up the datapad he heard the hiss of the door opening up. Through the gap, Harry heard silence for a brief moment. 

“Location of the sparkling?” Soundwave’s voice came through the gap. 

“He’s right-” One of the small mechs said before stopping when he realized he had no idea where the human was. 

“Locate sparkling now.” Despite the command being in the same monotone, Harry could feel the rage pulsing through the air. Hugging his datapad close to his chest Harry heard the shuffling as they attempted to locate him in the room. 

“Could he have gone in here?” 

Harry’s heart gave a jolt in his chest when he heard one of the small mechs just outside the gap. Hearing heavy footsteps approach the wall Harry ran. Hugging the wall he heard Soundwave order his small mech to move out of the way. Climbing over more wires Harry kept moving hoping against hope he could getaway.  
\--- 

“None of the nineteen were Harry.” Mr. Weasley announced one bitter December day after work. Lupin disappeared from the table completely abandoning his dinner to tell Sirius. Fearing dark wizards were behind Harry’s kidnapping the Order of the Phoenix had been quick to find a new headquarters. Sirius had given the Number Twelve Grimmauld Place in hopes he would have his godson with him soon. 

“That's all then? Your friend is still missing but at least he hasn’t been brutally murdered. Happy Christmas!” Ron snapped. Ever since he and Hermione had arrived neither one had spoken. 

“We also finally got authorization to speak to Harry’s cousin.” Added Mr. Weasley.

“And what did that great git have to say?” Fred asked.

“He said there was a great noise like a...what did he call it? Ghet plane? It then turned into a great metal man and when Harry used magic on it...it laughed. Then it picked Harry up like a doll, changed back into a ghet plane and...just...flew away.” Mr. Weasley's tone suggested he didn’t believe a word of that story. 

“Is he having a laugh?” Mrs. Weasley asked, throwing down the Christmas pudding so hard on the table it broke the dish. 

“We thought so too but four other eyewitnesses in three different countries also had the same story. How could five people who’ve never spoken to each other all have the same story? At first, we thought it was you-know-who supporters but now we’re not sure what to think.” Mr. Weasley leaned forward in his chair knitting his hands together. There seemed to be more on his mind but he wasn’t going to share it with the family.

While the children slept that night Arthur and Molly discussed him being sent to America in hopes his knowledge of Muggle artifacts would help solve the ghet plane abductions. It was a stretch but Fudge was desperate to appear like he was doing something. With a promise to come back safely the couple went to bed.

\---  
The sounds of the walls being torn apart had faded after a while. Using his datapad as a makeshift light Harry managed to navigate the inner workings of the wall. When he almost fell into a hole he cursed internally. 

What he would give for his wand right now. One little Lumos spell and it could move a lot faster. As he pictured the spell in his mind the datapad grew warmer. The screen grew brighter for a few seconds at the same time. It was only a few seconds but there was no mistaking what he saw. Stopping short Harry turned the datapad over to get a closer look at it. 

Nothing seemed different. The three pictures were still the same. Emboldened he thought about the Lumos spell again trying to replicate the results. Like before the screen lit up brighter as the metal became warmer. Harry was concentrating so hard on keeping the light brighter he failed to hear the shifting of metal. 

The wall was flooded with light as a panel was removed. Dropping the datapad Harry tried to shield his eyes.

“Found you. Don’t scare us like that.” Blitzwing scolded as he collected Harry from the wall. Holding Harry close he ran a massive digit over the human’s head. 

“How’d you do that?” Asked Rumble or Frenzy. They never did properly introduce themselves. 

“His E. M. field flared up. Just like when we met. Did something scare you in there little one?” Blitzwing asked, not expecting a response. 

“Sparkling located. Operation: Find sparkling, success.” Soundwave had joined them next to the open wall. He had a finger pressed to the side of his head while he spoke. Dopping his hand to his side Soundwave looked down at the small red mech. 

“Windfall went missing under your care. Explain.” 

“We was playing.”

“Yeah. He's just too good at Seeker Chase.” The other small mech added from behind Soundwave. Harry frowned. Seeker Chase sounded like a game. They had not been playing a game though. clearly they were lying to save themselves from punishment. Their lying was working in Harry’s favor though. If no one could fathom him leaving then it would be a lot easier to make another attempt in the future. 

Blitzwing made a noise that rumbled through his metal frame. Clearly he wanted something beyond this calm conversation. Harry remembered how his guardian assaulted two mechs within ten minutes for less. Feeling drained he leaned against the metal of his guardian. It was fascinating that the metal was always a little on the cool side but never cold. 

The energy surrounding Blitzwing shifted from its normal prickly nature to the calmer one he had when they were alone. He must’ve picked on Harry’s exhaustion since he gave a huff before dismissing himself. As they walked Harry’s thoughts were on the accidental/purpose magic he just did. 

Blitzwing re-positioned Harry a little high on his chest. Under the slightly warmer metal there he heard a steady humming that pulsed. He was in deep sleep before they even reached their room.


	4. Chapter 4

It took half a dozen times but it finally happened, Harry stopped caring. Ever since the wall incident, Harry tried to recreate that moment with the datapad. Several times he was able to make the surface shine brightly. The big back draw was if he wasn’t careful he would pass out from exhaustion. It happened with Blitzwing four times, and now Soundwave twice. Each time he woke up cradled in the crook of their arm. At first, he would blush and try to escape.

Now it didn’t matter. They would make sure he was uninjured then offer him the pink iridescent liquid to drink. Today was different though. Instead of the awkward balancing act of holding the massive cube out for him to drink Soundwave pulled something out from behind his back. He produced two clear glass bottles filled with the pink liquid. Taking one Harry greedily drank it dry. Once empty he allowed Soundwave to trade out the empty one for the second full one. Drinking the second much slower Soundwave picked up the datapad like he always did to check over his progress. 

“Acceptable.” Announced the mech setting the datapad down on the console in front of them. Soundwave held his closed fist above Harry still reclined form. “Hold out servo for reward.” Frowning Harry held up his left hand for the mech to drop a deep purple sphere. It was the size of a large jawbreaker with no smell.  
“Ingest candy when ready.”

Candy? Curious Harry gave the sphere a lick. It was sweet that left a tingle on his tongue. Feeling adventurous he took a bite. It was soft under the crunchy outer layer. The little noise of happiness went unheard by everyone as the door hissed open. 

\---

Blitzwing was already in a foul mood when he returned to base. That slagging gunner, Bluestreak, had tagged his wing during battle. Windfall needed that aluminum far more than the humans did! If it came down to it they could always cannibalize some abandoned aircraft littered throughout the desert. Due to this planet’s unique composition, rust was always an issue so it took more energy to purify the metals than mine them fresh. 

One quick patch job from Flatline and he made his way to collect his sparkling. When Blitzwing entered the communication center his tubes ran cold. He was used to seeing Soundwave holding Windfall. The sparkling often exhausted himself to the point of needing a statis nap several times an Earth day. What was different was the bright happy smile blessing the little one’s faceplate.  
Windfall never smiled. 

Jealousy raging through him, Blitzwing stomped over to extract his sparkling from his superior officer. 

“What is he ingesting?” He asked, seeing the objects in Windfall’s tiny servos. 

“Right servo: Energon container. Left servo: Energon goodie.” Soundwave supplied turning back towards the monitors to grab Windfall’s datapad. “Reward given for improvement.” 

“That doesn’t look like Energon,” Blitzwing commented leaning in to get a better look at the odd-shaped container. 

“Improved design for more efficient sparkling refueling.” Soundwave took the now empty container from Windfall. Blitzwing grumbled leaving the communication center. Judging by Windfall’s chipper demeanor he must’ve had a statis nap not that long ago. The Earth’s sun was still on this side of the hemisphere so he decided to take Windfall to his favorite spot. Several bots started calling this the light-time since it varied so much due to the planet’s odd tilt and orbit pattern around its star. 

Elation...freedom...exploration 

Windfall’s EM field reached out to his caretaker’s field broadcasting every little thing. Their bond was still solidifying but Blitzwing was sure by the end of another Earth orbital cycle the two of them would have a proper creator/creation bond. As soon as Windfall was strong enough to not need his incubator Blitzwing planned on having the little one recharge over his spark. 

Due to the extra gases in the atmosphere Windfall’s frame needed time to rest after long periods of constant pressure. Soon though. Two hundred orbital cycles wasn't that long. 

Then there was his first flight. Choosing his colors for his flight mode. Learning how to fight. Blitzwing subconsciously smiled at that. Despite being human in origin his little Windfall was a sparked fighter, no mistaking that. Blitzwing’s thoughts were interrupted by something tugging at his peds. Looking down he noticed a length of braided wire carelessly discarded near the open flight bay doors. It was a hazard to any mech flying back in to become entangled in. Setting down Windfall he went to go wrap it up for storage. To his surprise, the little mech began to examine the wire. Touching it and trying to pick it up. As if he were playing with it. 

It would’ve been charming if it was so sad. Besides the fuel and the incubator, the Nemesis had anything for a sparkling. The datapad was purely educational yet Windfall recharged with it firmly pressed against his spark. Even his fellow Decepticons managed to create games to distract from the never-ending war. 

“You’re in the way,” Starscream complained walking up to the two of them. 

“We’re not the ones leaving out wires for mechs to stumble over.” 

“Must’ve been from a Constructicon .” Said Thundercracker. 

“Who cares where it came from? Move it now!” Starscream made a point to step clean over Windfall to get to the door. 

“Are you having fun, Windy?” Skywarp had ignored everyone else in the room in favor of the sparkling. He grabbed the end of the wire in an attempt to engage with Windfall. The little one seemed distressed that the bigger mech was trying to take his ‘toy’ from him. 

“I need to get him something to play with.” Blitzwing did not mean to say that out loud. 

“If you’re quite finished some of us have work to do.” Starscream leaped off the edge of the bay to transform midair. Put out Skywarp and Thundercracker said their goodbyes, wishing Windfall a pleasant recharge. Not allowing Starscream’s rudeness to sour his mood further Blitzwing turned back towards his charge. Sitting with peds hanging off the edge Blitzwing grabbed the end of the wire-like Skywarp just did. Dragging it across the floor he attempted to bump Windfall’s peds with it only for the little one to jump over it.  
Blitzwing couldn’t help but beam. As pointless as their little jumping game was seeing his sparkling just enjoy himself made this dirt clod of a planet more bearable. 

\---

Going outside the scheduled patrol route was only permissible if it benefited the Decepticons. A happy sparkling counted right? Figuring a happy sparkling was a happy rebel group Blitzwing made a slight detour. 

He wouldn’t have much time since Windfall was due for refueling before needing to be put back in his incubator. Over his initial jealousy from Soundwave’s ingenuity, Blitzwing allowed his sparkling to drink his fuel before pulling out his present from subspace. While flying he spotted the handwoven mesh hanging out to dry in the desert sun. Humans were known for such practices due to their armor needing to be removed before cleaning. This piece was an extra layer of protection called a blanket. What made this blanket special was the black and purple design that reminded Blitzwing of his paint job. 

Windfall looked up with curious optics as his caretaker draped the blanket around him. Blitzwing could feel his smile slipping off his face. Try as he might, he couldn’t feel anything over their bond. Reaching out Windfall allowed him to stroke his helm trying to gauge the other’s reaction. The triple changer murmured a few loving words he dared not let anyone else overhear before grabbing the top of the incubator. 

Behind him, his door hissed open. In one smooth motion, Blitzwing placed himself between his sparkling and the potential threat, his laser ready to be fired. Skywarp gave a yelp stumbling back into his trine mates. 

“Primus Blitzwing! Watch where you’re pointing that thing.” Skywarp tried to detangle from Thundercracker.  
“Told you we should’ve pinged first.” The blue Seeker chided pushing off Skywarp. 

“And I said this was a waste of time.” Starscream chimed in stepping into view. 

“What do you three glitch heads want?” 

“We have gifts for Windfall.” Thundercracker pulled a tiny black object from his subspace. “The humans call this a dog.” 

“Don’t worry, it's fake,” Skywarp assured him getting in front of his fellow Seeker to hold out his gift. “Which is stupid. My gift is so much better.” 

“What is it?” Blitzwing lowered his weapon only slightly. He was still cross about the flying incident not that long ago. One would think almost having their wings ripped off would be a good enough warning but they’d be wrong. 

“It's a bag! Humans use these all the time since they don't have a subspace like us. Like this.” Skywarp snatched the tiny fake dog from Thundercracker to place inside the bag. “And now Windy doesn’t have to hold his datapad all the time.” 

Deactivating his weapon systems Blitzwing went to take the gifts from the Seeker trine. Skywarp's smile fell as he pulled the gifts close to himself. 

“We were hoping to see Windy’s --ahem--Windfall’s expression for ourselves.” 

Blitzwing huffed stepping aside to allow them to crowd around his Sparkling. Better to get this over with now rather than delay the little one’s recharge cycle any further.  
Windfall did not make a sound but his EM field made up for it.

….Curious...ecstatic...hope…

Windfall had removed the fake dog from the bag to stroke the soft fuzzy material. 

“There you saw. Now it's time to recharge little one.” Just as Blitzwing went to put the lid on the incubator when Starscream spoke up.

“How uninspired. Trinkets at best.” The second in command nudged the others aside to pull his present from subspace. “This should help spark the processor.” 

Ever polite Windfall set aside his dog to allow Starscream to place a dull metallic rock in his servos. Turning the rock over if he could vocalize everyone was sure he’d be chirping. 

“A rock Screamer?” Skywarp mocked as the little sparkling set the rock aside to bed down for recharge. Blitzwing shooed the three idiots out of his habisuite, as they bickered the entire time.

“It's an ilmenite crystal from this planet’s moon! While you two insist on talking down to him I’m teaching him how to be a proper functioning mech.” 

“With a rock.” Thundercracker shot back. The door thankfully cut off what Starscream was going to say next. Shaking his helm Blitzwing locked in the lid of the incubator watching his sparklings frame already relaxing. Switching off the lights the purple mech reclined back for his recharge.  
\---  
Arthur should’ve known this meeting was a total farce. Even in other countries, the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office was viewed as menial work. Just of a bunch of wizards and witches too busy exchanging yarns about previous cases to focus on why they were here. It was hard not to get involved with the storytelling though. Snacks and drinks were provided during work hours along with an array of comfortable chairs and couches. At first, Arthur tried to gather as much information as the other members had. 

Location, ages, genders, anything that could gleam a pattern to the kidnappings. The others muttered how they already told the higher-ups everything they knew already but gave it anyway just to shut him up. A week into their mission Arthur had several scraps of parchment spread out on the table he claimed as his own. Rubbing his burning eyes he glanced over the lists to try to find the pattern. 

So far there were a few things the twenty (he was including Harry despite still being classified as missing) had in common. Each person was relatively alone in a fairly remote location outside. Either flying, gardening, walking, etc. Since walking and gardening tended not to need magic their kidnappers must’ve had a way to tell they were magical. Sighing Arthur arranged the scraps in front of him neatly. Standing up the redhead made a bee-line for the door. Finding it locked he tried to spell it open with no success. Banging on the door he hoped someone was nearby.  
Arthur’s efforts were met with a cross looking man. When they had arrived the Muggles wearing such attire were introduced as soldiers. 

“Is there a problem?” 

“No...well sort of.” Arthur didn’t mean to trip over his words. “I just wanted to know if there was any change in the numbers of victims.”

“No new taken nor found. If that is all please be seated.”

“It's just that. One of the victims is a close family friend. He's still missing-”

“You know one of the victims?” 

“Well yes. His name is-”

“Come with me.” The soldier grabbed Arthur to steer him down the corridor. He was put in a bright white room with two uncomfortable-looking chairs and a tiny metal table right in the middle. In walked a middle-aged soldier wearing a colorful array of metal on his chest. 

“I’ve been told you have some personal information on one of the victims.”

“The living victim. Yes.” Arthur stressed hoping he was right.

“Tell me everything. And I do mean everything.” When Arthur hesitated the man spoke up again. “Whatever secrecy laws you’re worried about mean nothing now. So I will say this again: Tell. Me. Everything.”  
\---  
Hound was deep in recharge when he felt the telltale feeling of being sniffed. Annoyed, he onlined his headlights to try and spook the creature away. Standing in the light was a large dog still investigating him. Nor wanting to be urinated on again Hound revved his engine moving forward a few inches. The dog only took a few steps back in response. Rolling clear out of the overgrowth that served as his makeshift shelter the Autobot transformed into his root mode. That usually did the trick for the more stubborn Earth creature.  
Instead of disappearing into the woods, the black dog growled ready to attack. 

“I don’t have time for this.” The light blue mech complained, grabbing the dog to physically remove him from the glen. The dog flailed the entire way to Hagrid’s. Avoiding the gnashing teeth he tied the animal to the human’s fence. Hound left the beast there as he transformed back into vehicle mode to drive back to his glen. Too tired to notice anything out of the ordinary, Hound failed to notice the dog turn into a scruffy man struggling to untie the rope around his neck.


	5. Chapter 5

“Are you sure it's not hurting him?” Blitzwing asked as Windfall messed with the bracelet attached to his ped. 

“Affirmative.” Was all Soundwave said. After the bulkhead incident, he had the tracker commissioned for the adventurous sparkling. It was loose enough to readjust but small enough to prevent it from slipping off. Windfall hated it. The instant it was put on he tried to take it off. Seeing the little mech exhaust himself trying to take it off hurt his spark a little. 

It was the fourth light-cycle now and Blitzwing was at his processor’s end. He had to even go so far as to take Windfall’s crystal away from him after he caught the Mechling trying to break off the tracker. Soundwave leaned in to take the tiny ped into his servos to look at. Seeing the human-colored covering intact he spoke.

“No change?” 

Blitzwing shook his helm. He could accept the mutism but the lack of willingness to transform would not stand! If Windfall couldn’t fly he was at risk for being attacked by Autobots as well as humans. His disguise was perfect but one wrong move was all humans needed to attack. Several mechs commented about tossing the little one around to frighten him into his true form. Those mechs wound up in medbay. 

“Flatline insists it all in his processor. Residual memories from before his reformatting appear to be interfering with his functions.” 

“Time and care fix all,” Soundwave said while messing with Windfall’s peds. The origins of the Cassetticons were a mystery but the way Soundwave became creator-like around Windfall gave Blitzwing ideas. Being the only one to know this side of the communication officer made Blitzwing feel special. Loaded up with more Energon bottles the triple changer made his way to the open bay doors as he always did. 

Bringing out the wire he was about to play their jumping game when the alarm sounded. Getting ready to bolt back to his habisuite he almost ran right into Soundwave.

“No time. All Decepticons to the North crest.” The Northern mountain range was their last defense. If the Autobots were to come over that ridge their position would be compromised.  
“I can’t just leave him here!” 

“The tacker was designed for such emergencies.” 

Not happy Blitzwing tucked Windfall away from the open door with the promise to be back soon. All too all available forces were airborne to defend their base. 

\---

Harry sat on the edge of the open bay doors. Stretched out for miles was the promise of freedom. If it wasn’t for the damn tracker on his leg. Needing something to distract him from his plight he dug through his bag. 

His stuffed dog, his datapad, and four full bottles of his food. Nothing useful. 

With nothing better to do Harry leaned with his back against the wall balancing the datapad on his lap. Taking out his inkless pen he tapped the top thinking of what to do. Too frustrated to think he ended up slumping to the side staring at nothing. Bored with that he huffed before turning on his back to stare at the ceiling instead. 

\---

‘All Autobots report to base.’ The authoritative voice of Optimus Prime pierced through the normal calm of the morning. Despite receiving that transmission hours ago the light blue Cybertronian remained where he was. Hound rolled up the edge of the forest waiting for his charge to visit. 

“It's time.” Hound said still in alt mode. Neville looked stunned as the passenger side door opened to let him in. What the Griffindor had planned was to tell Hound about a new plant he found that allowed someone the ability to breathe underwater for an hour. Then again adventure rarely called when it was convenient. 

Figuring now was as good a time as any he tossed his backpack into the backseat when someone called out to him. Spinning around he saw Hermione and Ron standing on the path leading to the castle. They both looked confused, both their wands ready.

“Neville. Who were you talking to?” She asked walking sideways to circle around the small clearing. Ron had taken to circle the opposite direction, eyeing Hound the whole time. 

“There is no one driving,” Ron commented to his friends. 

“Neville. This is really dangerous.” Hermione warned her wand shaking slightly. She looked like she was two seconds from a full-blown mental breakdown. Hound rolled backward, his door catching Neville from behind. 

“Get in.” Whispered the disembodied voice of the alien. Frozen in place Neville glanced between his old friends and his new one. The bark of a large dog startled the Gryffindor into diving into the waiting Autobot. The spells of Hermione and Ron bounced harmlessly off the Autobot’s armor as he sped away. 

\---

Hermione made to go after them but her arm was caught by Ron.

“They’re getting away!” Hermione protested trying to wrench her arm got of the red-heads surprisingly strong grip.

“It's a car, Hermione.” 

The witch stopped struggling as the realization settled in. Tears welling up she slumped into Ron’s chest weeping freely. It was too much. All the adults were keeping them in the dark as if Harry was merely on holiday. 

“Ron? Hermione? Where’s the monster?” Looking around the two-spotted the now human Sirius Black jogging up to them. Neither one had the strength to question why he was there. 

“It took Neville.” Ron managed to say as Hermione gave a fresh new series of sobs. Swearing Sirius followed the fresh tracks as they disappeared into the forest.

“We need back up. Come on.” Sirius transformed into a dog taking off towards the school. With a few gentle words, Ron managed to coax Hermione into following after. He knew once Hermione had a heading she’d be unstoppable again. But for now, he’d be the rock she needed. 

\---

It took everything in his power for Arthur not to comment on Staff Sergeant's Sparkplug Witwicky’s name. He wanted to gush to the Muggle about his collection of them but thought better of it at the man’s stern expression. 

“What you’re about to see is, of course, top secret.” Stated the man as they got into one of the many elevators around the base. Arthur watched as the Sergeant pulled out a funny looking key from around his neck. He pushed aside a panel hidden just below the button to insert the key, he then pressed several of the normal buttons in succession. There was a light ding and the elevator began to lower. 

“For everyone’s safety, you will keep your wand holstered at all times.” Sparkplug nodded towards the pocket Arthur’s wand was nestled in. 

“Welcome to Sector Omega.” The door slid open to reveal giants milling around. Enormous metallic men going about their day. Sparkplug walked a little ahead of Arthur on a raised platform that allowed the humans to talk to the giants at eye level. As Arthur followed several of the metal men stopped what they were doing to look at Arthur’s robes. Normally he didn’t pay too much attention to the state of them but today he felt ridiculously underdressed. 

When they reached the end of the catwalk Arthur could only stare at the largest metallic man turned from the map he was looking at. Normally the red-head would’ve had a million questions about the map alone, like was it the same as a television set? The map displayed the world with various pins on it connected to the faces of the kidnapped magic folk. 

“Greetings. My name is Optimus Prime. I hope we can help each other from here on out.” 

“Arthur Weasley.” He held out his hand as per his normal greeting but drew it when he realized how ridiculous he was being. The metallic man gave a deep chuckle behind his mask. His light blue glowing eyes held a bit of warmth there that reminded Arthur of Dumbledore. 

“I'm sure you have a lot of questions. My third in command, Jazz will be your guardian from here on out.” Optimus waved his hand towards the metal man in question. “For now I have a few questions of my own.” Optimus turned to face the map again to point to the first kidnap victim.

\---

Harry was waving his pen drawing configure eights in the air. The pen was lighter and an inch shorter than his wand. Oftentimes he wondered what happened to it. Lifting his leg he glared at the bracelet. Feeling annoyed he pointed the pen at the bracelet he pretended he was holding his wand. 

‘Alohamora.” He imagined the object falling off his leg. There was a sound of metal on metal that caused Harry to blink. His leg was still raised but the bracelet was gone. Praying he wasn’t in a dream he scrambled to sit up to pat down the now free leg. Sure enough, lying inches from him was the bracelet that had just fallen off.  
He was free. 

Looking around he had no idea how much time he had left before the others returned. He grabbed the bracelet to close it shut fearing it might spring to life and snap around his arm or something. There was an air vent nearby Harry had planned on using as an exit originally. Realizing he could buy himself some more time he raced over to throw it inside as hard as he could. Not waiting to hear how far it landed he went back to collect his bag. He took out the stuffed dog that reminded him of Sirius and his datapad. After a quick internal debate, he kept the pen. It wasn’t a real wand but after what just happened it was better to be safe.

He had a few bottles of food. If he drank only the bare minimum he could last for days. 

Bag snuggly shouldered he then made quick work to push the wire he convinced Blitzwing to keep towards and over the edge. Lowering himself over the edge Harry repelled down using the wire. He knew he didn’t plan further than what he was doing now and he didn’t care. 

\---

“Doing alright Neville?” Hound asked transforming back into root mode. The young wizard had been quiet for several hours now. They had reached the American airforce base without a hitch and were ushered onto a cargo plane in an instant. 

“Now what?” Neville asked a strong force pushed him back against the seat.

“We’re taking off.” Hound answered. “Don’t worry we’ll be allowed to move about soon enough.” True enough the force lessened soon. “Come on. I’m sure you need to stretch out a little.”  
Neville wandered off hesitantly towards one of the few windows. Peering out he gasped at how high off the ground they were. What was worse was they were over the ocean. Nothing but water for as far as he could see. It took everything in his power not to vomit.

Hound made a loud noise of joy further up the plane. Welcoming the distraction the wizard made his way towards his friend. The Autobot was standing in front of a line of military trucks that didn’t have roofs. Before Neville could ask any proper questions a red light shot out from Hound passing over the closest vehicle. 

Hound made a motion for Neville to stand clear before transforming. As he watched the light blue paint began to flake off. Instead of a small blue car, he was now an exact copy of the roofless vehicle. Right down to the hunter green color. 

“That's much better,” Hound announced transforming back into his biped form. He shifted from foot to foot shaking off the flakes still on his feet. 

“Can you all do that?” Neville bent down to pick up the flakes examining it closely. 

“As long as it has four wheels and has roughly the same amount of matter as me I can take on any vehicle’s shape. The color thing? Not so much. Arthur thought it would be a better camouflage for me when flying.” 

“You can fly?” The brown-haired boy dropped the flake to gape up at Hound.

“Well no. Arthur tried to upgrade me but my natural programming was too strong for anything to last for more than a few months.” Hound made his way over to some crates strapped down from the floor to the wall and up to the ceiling. He sat down to lean against them making himself comfortable. Neville could hear the wood creaking in protest over the loud engines. 

“I don’t know about you but I need a statis nap.” Hound raised his arms up to cradle his head from behind to make a pillow. Avoiding looking out the window again Neville sat down next to his sleeping friend. 

So this was adventuring.

\---

Arthur was given a stretch of catwalk near a broken window to live in for the foreseeable future. Anyone wanting to witness magic left feeling cheated. Except for the heating charm he cast on his blanket Arthur left everything he received unchanged. The novelty of living like ‘a real-life Muggle soldier’ was too great an appeal for the eccentric wizard. To further dampen everyone’s enthusiasm Arthur was given several uniforms if he ever needed to step out into the Muggle world. Now instead of a mysterious wizard, he looked like some weird old guy cooing over the vending machines.

He was even delighted in eating the meals that came in brown packets. The redhead was tucking into his beef stew MRE when the post arrived.

“Wild.” Jazz commented as a large barn owl that just swooped in the window. The wizard offered a cracker which the bird ignored. “As cool as this isn’t there a more efficient way to talk to each other?” 

“Some things you leave well enough alone,” Arthur commented while breaking the seal on the letter. Meal now forgot he jumped off his creaky cot to approach the edge of the catwalk. “There has been another kidnapping.” 

“Talk to me.” Jazz commanded raised his hand palm up to allow Arthur to walk off the opening in the guardrail. 

“Let's see, oh no, it's another one of Ron’s classmates. Taken right outside the school grounds.”

“That's not possible. We have a mech stationed there, he would’ve said if there was Decepticon activity.” Jazz’s visor narrowed as if he was pulling his eyebrows together in confusion.

“Then how would you explain a” Arthur frowned as he read the next few words slowly. Was he seeing this correctly? “Light blue Ford Anglia…”

“That sounds like Hound.” Came a new voice. Arthur recognized the police car (everyone was swift to correct his mispronunciations) that he fondled the other day. Apparently, doors were a sensitive part of this particular Autobot’s body. 

“Hiya Prowler.” Jazz smiled at Prowl. Prowl gave a nod of acknowledgment to Jazz before turning towards the mech at the monitors. 

“Bumblebee.” The smaller bright yellow mech gave a jump. It was clear he had been eavesdropping the whole time.

“What is the current ETA on Hound?” The cop car asked not looking behind him.

“Um, one hour and sixteen minutes...sir.” 

“Is it possible for you to keep your messenger until we get these details sorted out? No need to cause undue panic.” Prowl made a face. “Well more panic anyways.” 

“Yeah. Sure.” Arthur agreed as he stepped back onto the catwalk. He was far too distracted by the fact that it was highly possible he spent the better part of a year messing around with the insides of an alien. Hope he wasn’t the hold a grudge type.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we're at a bit of cross roads people. I can't decide on whether Harry/Windfall should be found in his robot form or his human one. One leads Harry back to the wizarding world almost instantly. The other gets him adopted into the Autobot ranks much faster.  
> Thoughts?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couple things. First, thank you all for your comments. Really helped me out here.
> 
> For now, please enjoy.

So this is how Harry J. Potter dies. In the middle of some God-forsaken desert trying to escape from giant mechanical aliens. He survived Voldemort, the basilisk, hundreds of dementors, and the dozens of times he’d been denied food to the point of starvation. 

This? This was embarrassing. 

So far he had emptied two of his bottles already since he had climbed down the wire. His ears strained to hear the telltale whirl of jet engines. Vision blurring slight Harry failed to notice the dried-up river bed until he was standing on the edge of it. Peering down he wondered if it would be better to climb down or try to find a way around. The decision was made for him as the sand gave way under him. 

Harry saw the rock right before he fell face-first into it. The hit left a ringing that echoed through his head. Staring up at the cloudless sky the sun was blocked out by a massive shadow. 

“No. Fragging. Way.” 

Harry groaned. The voice was clearly from one of the metallic men. He’d been found. 

“Shh. Shh. Shh. It's ok. You’re ok. Well, not ok. But you will be. I can’t believe this is happening.” The mech lifted Harry. “Ouf. That is a nasty dent. You must have the worst processor ache right now. Where did you come from anyway?”

Harry groaned again. The mech’s voice was making his head hurt worse. There was a flurry as the new mech transformed. Harry could only hazily stare up at the internal roof of a car.  
‘That's new.’ Thought Harry as the car mech raced through the desert at top speed. 

\---

Their base was secure for another day. Now all that was left was tucking Windfall in for the night-cycle. Or maybe a wash cycle first. The solvent was harmless to Windfall’s disguise but the pressure was strong enough to knock over the Cassetticons. There was always just allowing the sparkling to splash around outside the spray. Blitzwing observed this one night-cycle coming in late from a mission involving a volcano. The ash was murder on his joints. 

At the time Blitzwing couldn’t appreciate the cleverness of Soundwave. The larger mech would cup his servos to soften the rush of cleaning solution while the minicons cleaned themselves. It was about time the little one got a proper wash. Transforming before he landed Blitzwing looked where he’d assume Windfall would stand to stay out of the way. 

The first thing he noticed was the wire they played with was hanging out the open bay. 

“Windfall?” He called out. He spotted his datapad and the fake dog but no Windfall. 

“Soundwave.” Said Blitzwing through the comm system. Soundwave did not speak as he double backed to the other mech’s location. Now too familiar with the scene he booted up the tracking program. 

“Air vent.” He pointed to the grate in front of Blitzwing. Ex-venting in relief he pulled off the grate to reach inside. 

“You need to stop doing this bitlit.” Chided the triple changer reaching into the vent. When his servo felt a tiny ringlet and nothing else he pulled it out to look at. Once he pulled it into the light both mech’s sparks gave a painful flicker. All Blitzwing could do was stare at the Windfall-less tracker. Trying to remain calm he pushed out his EM field as far as it would go searching for his little one’s field. 

Soundwave approached the camera installed near the open entrance to tap into the system. At speeds that would short circuit a normal processor, he found what he was looking for. Since Windfall was so far away from the camera it was hard to pick up the smaller details as to what he was doing. One klik he was lying on his back the next he was rushing the grate they found the tracker in. The sparkling wasted no time in pushing the wire off the edge so he could climb down. 

“Laserbeak eject. Operation: Find sparkling.” With a cry, the avian Decepticon took to the sky.

“Out there?” Blitzwing stood up to stare out the bay doors in horror. “It's too dangerous!” Dropping the tracker he launched himself off the ledge to transform into jet mode. As he took off he almost collided with the returning seeker trine. 

\---

Harry felt proud he managed not to faint this time. The car mech drove him to a new location filled with mechs he’d never seen before. There was hope though. If he could manage to get a datapad or even something else to write on he could explain everything. Just as soon as his head stopped hurting. Through winding hallways and almost knocking over several others along the way the mech finally burst into a room.

Inside was a red and white mech polishing the biggest wrench Harry had ever seen.

“Bluestreak? What's the matter?” 

“I found him in the desert. Can you fix him?” Bluestreak held out Harry for the white/red mech to look at. There was that cold tingle as the mech gave a glance over Harry’s body. 

“Low fluid levels. Some softening of the protoform. His helm damage will mend itself if he stays inside a gestation incubator.”

“We have one?” Bluestreak asked as the red/white mech moved across the room to gather supplies.

“Technically no. But the chamber I use to rebuild fuels line will do the same thing.” Motioning over Bluestreak the medic (Harry assumed) opened an elongated rectangle chamber to lay down something soft. Three of the outer walls were solid but the fourth had gloves connected on the inside. Harry tried to fight being placed inside but he was too weak. At his weak protests, Bluestreak tried to comfort him with gentle words. 

Then the lid was shut the white/red mech stepped away holding a finger to where an ear would be on a human. Bluestreak on the other hand pulled a rolling stool so he could rest his upper body on the table. Feeding his right hand through the glove he began to stroke Harry's head with a small smile on his face. With the last ounce of energy, he could muster Harry batted at the massive hand. When he raised it halfway he noticed his hand was no longer his hand. 

Staring in horror at his once human hand that now resembled the one he was swatting away. Wiggling his hematite colored digits he froze as he finally processed what he was seeing.  
Humans were barely evolving when Ratchet saw his last sparkling. When Bluestreak rushed into medbay carrying one his processor about locked up. Ever the professional he went straight to work scanning. 

He was a seekerling mech alright. Though the most streamlined mech, he’d ever seen. Bearing in mind the little one was still in his first frame and had a long way to go. Still, though...even first frame seekers could fly. His boosters on his peds were visible but he lacked wings of any kind. Ratchet made a note to do a deeper scan once the seekerling frame had settled. 

Continuing with his primary exam he mapped every inch of the new frame for later documentation. Maybe Optimus would allow him to categorize this new frame with a more Autobot sounding classification. Sure there were the aerialbots but they were still their frame type different from this new one. Seekerling would have to do for now though. 

A pair of goggles stretched over the top kept in place by large screws. Where human ears were supposed to be the little one’s audio sensors jutted straight out behind him narrowing down to a point. What interested him was the coloration of the seekerling’s optics. Green like the American traffic lights. He knew of Decepticon red, Autobot blue, and neutral gold but not green. As much as he wanted to do a deep thorough scan it will have to wait until the little one got a cube of medical grade and a good long recharge. As he turned to go grab the mixture a high pitched, audio ringing screech burst from the seekerling. 

\---

“Care to explain?” Prowl asked as Hound stepped off the aircraft carrier with his human in tow. 

“I needed a human ally. Oh, and he also does magic.” Said Hound. 

“You also risked exposure to our race. You were seen by three others while you took this one away from the school.” The human was frowning as if puzzled by what Prowl was saying. “The magic world is already on high alert as it is and you saw fit to pull a stunt like this.” 

Prowl reigned in his anger at the miserable looks the two of them were giving him. He wasn’t a sparked drone like the others like to call him. In fact, he was just as emotional as the next mech. If he allowed his emotions to run rampant like the rest then he wouldn’t be able to strategize as efficiently as they needed. He would rather have a ship full of mechs who didn’t like than a scrapyard full of friends. 

“Under normal circumstances wouldn’t be an issue but right now the leaders of the magic world are looking to place the blame somewhere. These humans don’t see the difference between an Autobot and Decepticon at the moment and your actions are not helping our case. You will return the human Neville to the school where his teachers will handle things from there. We are trusting you to keep our secrets, young human.” Prowl leaned in to look the human directly into his large brown optics. 

“I’m not saying you can no longer contact Hound. What I am saying is for the moment we need to move as covertly as possible as to not send the entire world into a panic. If the non-magical humans can not handle their fellow man being different imagine the panic of aliens fighting a war. Do you understand what I am saying?” 

“Yes. If I keep your secret then I can still be friends with Hound.” Neville nodded.

Prowl groaned internally. They were on the brink of a four-way no holds bar war here and not a single being on this primus forsaken planet was taking this seriously! Just as he was about to give the duo a further dressing down he received a comm from Jazz.

‘Prowl we need you down in medbay.’ Prowl took immediate notice at Jazz’s sudden formality.

‘In a disciplinary meeting.’ 

‘That can wait. Prime says it's urgent.’ 

“You two, report to Arthur. He’ll send a message to the Headmaster of your school disclosing what happened. We’ll set up a time when you can safely go back in due time. In the meantime.” Prowl paused to make sure both human and Autobot were paying close attention.

“Stay out of trouble.” 

Shaking his helm Prowl left the two to follow his orders. It was like dealing with sparklings he swears to Primus.

Optimus and Jazz were waiting for him outside of medbay. Spark pulsing in his chassis he dreaded to find out what was waiting for him on the other side of those doors. 

“Thank you for coming so quickly.” Optimus nodded placing his massive hand on the double doors. Without any further explanation, he pushed one of the doors open. Immediately their audios were filled with the sound of distressed sparkling sounds. Prowl was across the room in a spark beat comforting the terrified little one.  
Hugging the sparkling to his neck cords he encased the panicking aura with his calmer one. It took a few breems for the terror-filled EM field to calm. Even after everyone was calmed Prowl held tight running a digit over the spinal strut as he did to Bluestreak so many stellar cycles ago.

\---

As endearing as Jazz was finding the scene in front of him his saboteur programming was buzzing. No one said anything about the sparkling being a seeker. Was he the creation of one of the Decepticons? If so, then why was he all alone. Seekers had the reputation for being ruthless protectors and they were quick to live up to it. 

“Blue,” Said Jazz. “Where did you find that sparkling?” 

“Mmm... a few miles south of quadrant twelve. Why?”

“Could be a trap.” 

Ignoring the glare he was receiving from Prowl Jazz continued to speak.

“Seems strange, don’t it? The first sparkling in over four million stellar cycles just happens to be wandering the desert of this specific planet. To top it all off that sparkling so happens to be a seeker?” Jazz could feel his fans kicking in as all his instincts were urging him to tear the seekerling off his friend. From its position, it could easily sever a fuel line in half a klik. Prowl would be offline before anybot could move. 

“Interesting theory there Jazz.” Conceded Ratchet of all bots. “Now all you needed to do is find out exactly how a bot in its first frame could possibly be a trap.” 

“Trackers. Decoy to follow close behind. Pit he could even be a creation of Soundwave for all we know.”

Prowl’s glare turned to a more pensive expression. Good. He was getting worried the Praxian’s carrier code was overriding the bot’s logic programming. 

“Ratchet. How long would it take to perform a complete deep dive scan?” Optimus looked over at the medic. 

“Seven breems.”

“Until then we will treat him like we would any other cybertronian.” Optimus had a way of making an order not sound like an order. Jazz gave a curt nod showing he understood. He walked a few feet away to survey Ratchet as he placed the deep scanners on the sparklings helm. Propping a ped against the bulkhead behind him he crossed his arms he leaned back. For Prowl’s sake, he hoped his suspicions were unfounded. 

\---

Laserbeak thought he saw something. Using a concentric circle flight pattern he made sure he was covering as much desert as possible. For a flight type being so, young Windfall was surprisingly fast. Turning to face the planet’s southern pole he spotted the bright red mesh the sparkling wore. Too focused on reaching the goal he failed to notice the sudden burst of hot gritty sand being carried by the wind. Tiny dirt particles stuck to his optics clouding his vision. Landing now would be too dangerous. Calling out to Soundwave the flyer waited for the signal he would follow to safety. Taking note of the location he saw the red mesh Laserbeak made his way back home. 

\---

The Lamborghini twins should’ve known something was up when they saw Bluestreak back early from patrol servos pressed against over his chest plating. He was running like Unicron was after him towards medbay. Neither of them noticed any oil or Energon leaking from anywhere so they thought nothing of it. 

From that day forward the two of them knew something was going on. It had only been two days but the energy had shifted noticeably throughout the base. At first, Sunscreaker thought it was because Hound came back with a wizard named Neville. As ok Arthur and what he’s seen of Neville was Sunstreaker still disliked wizard humans. And the military humans. Humans.  
They were all annoying, too full of themselves greasy egotists. Arthur was the worst. What with all his insistent need to touch everyone and everything. Thankfully there was talk of at least Neville being sent back where he came from. 

Still, the air seemed to hold a sort of charge. More than once Sunstreaker had been caught in an Earth lightning storm to know what such a charged atmosphere foretold. Bluestreak's sudden aversion to everyone did not help either. He was either with his adopted creators or in medbay. The other Autobots were quick to start placing bets on what could be causing such a change in one of their younger members.

From a virus to cosmic rust to being sparked up, bots were talking over one another trying to put in their two credits. On the fourth day of this change in Bluestreak, the Autobot collective got their answer. 

‘The seekers are losing their touch,’ Thought Sunstreaker as he made his way to medbay. Skywarp was a wily seeker who was not afraid to risk injury if it meant him getting what he wanted. One time he rammed himself into the side of a cliff in an attempt to dislodge Sideswipe off his wings. Today the purple jet’s movements were sluggish and he seemed distracted. The Con still managed to almost blast Sunstreaker’s arm off though. He then screamed he didn’t have time for this and warped away. Even though his arm was still throwing sparks intermittently he had a smug smile on his face. Now he had a reason to be in medbay and Ratchet the Hatchet had to let him in.

Sunstreaker was escorted to the closest medical berth where Ratchet promptly started working on his injuries. A few breems went by punctured by the sound of soldering. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary though. He was the only patient in here so he had a mostly unobstructed view from his berth.  
What was going on here?

Then he saw it. A flicker of movement on the shelf of the medic’s workbench. As he stared he saw it again. Something rather small was inside the depressurization chamber. He and Sides had their fuel lines replaced enough times to know something living shouldn’t be inside the box. It took a lot of effort but he stilled his voice modulator. If he drew attention to the fact he knew something was different the medic would be on him like pink on Energon. Best to sit and wait for the perfect moment to strike. He was a fighter, not an idiot. You don’t survive the fighting pits by being an idiot.

Ratchet suspected nothing as he went about taking Sunstreaker’s broken parts to the scrap pile for recycling. Where the half-melted metal would be smelted into replacement armor for the next mech. Sideswipe often wondered how many mechs were walking around with pieces of their armor plating. 

Feigning he was leaving Sunstreaker waited until he was certain the medic was out of the room before heading towards the depressurization chamber. Seeing what was nestled inside made him stop short. Looks like Cliffjumper was the big winner of the bet. 

‘So Bluestreak was now a carrier. Bet Prowl almost offlined the sire when he found out. Speaking of which, who was the sire?’ Thought the bright yellow mech looking over the recharging sparkling for clues. The solid grey color offended his optics. He was no expert but Sunstreaker was sure bitlets bore some color upon emergence. 

Confusion growing he noticed the little one had no wheels. No headlights. His helm was the wrong shape too. Then he saw them, a pair of thrusters on each ped. There was a slagging Decepticon in the base. 

“Sunny?” Bluestreak asked. Whirling around the fighter grabbed the unsuspecting gunner. 

“Tell me whats going on, right now!” When Blue didn’t answer he leaned in closer. “Did you get sparked up by a Con?”

“What? No! Look this is all just a big misunderstanding.” 

“I’ll say. THERE IS A SLAGGING CON IN OUR MEDBAY.”

“He is not a Decepticon.” Prowl had arrived. “Windfall is just a sparkling.”

“You gave it a designation?” This was spiraling out of control. His processor was starting to overclock with the conflicting information. 

“Actually he came with one. We found it during our deep dive scan-” Bluestreak began explaining when Sunstreaker remembered he was still grasping onto the Praxian. 

“And you. Flyers murdered your whole city. You lost everything. And now-” Sunstreaker shoved Bluestreak away to be caught by Prowl. “You’re protecting one of them.” He waved his servo towards the now awake sparkling. 

“WHOS YELLING IN MY MEDBAY?” Roared Ratchet pulling his throwing wrench out of subspace. While the other two were distracted by the medic’s arrival he slipped past them out the doors.  
His anger didn’t subside even after getting his Energon ration and taking his seat next to his brother. Sideswipe leaned in close so they wouldn’t be overheard.

“So what's the big secret?”

“Con sparkling.” Was all Sunstreaker said before downing his ration at top speed.

“Uh, what?” 

Sunstreaker kept drinking as he looked around the room. Autobots were milling around laughing, refueling, completely unaware of what the upper brass was hiding just out of sight. The yellow bot slammed his now empty cube on the table in front of him. 

Time to start some slag.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For an idea of what Harry/Winfall looks like he was based off the Jet twins from Transformers Animated.  
> If you want to ask me questions directly please message/ask me on my Tumblr blog what-the-ship


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please turn in all permission slips for this feels trip before continuing.   
> If you want to be spoiled for all future plot points you can hit me up on my Tumblr: What-the-ship

Harry caught the tail end of the argument but he felt he heard enough. Racism wasn’t just a human thing it seems. Watching the yellow mech bolt out of the medbay Harry looked back towards Prowl who was pressing a finger against his head as he talked. 

“Jazz, we have a situation. Sunstreaker discovered Windfall and is libel to act with aggression.” There was a pause as Prowl appeared to be listening. Harry wished the wizarding world had something like that. Instant communication that didn’t involve tying a piece of paper to a bird. 

“We need to comm Optimus. This is going to get ugly fast.” Prowl dropped his hand to turn to Bluestreak. “But first we need to get Windfall out of the base, FAST.” 

Nodding Bluestreak was quick to collect Harry, hugging the Seekerling close. The dark-colored mech paused as Ratchet held out a hand to stop him. The older mech collected Harry’s bag he confiscated when he first arrived. It was always just outside of his incubator, taunting him.

“There are several sparkling grade Energon containers in here. Either Jazz or Prowl will comm you when things have cooled down here. I also added something to keep the little one occupied just in case you need to talk a bit of a road trip.” He then gently placed the bag in Harry’s lap. Through the heavy-duty cloth, he felt something very datapad shaped inside. 

Thanking the medic Bluestreak cupped his hands over Harry shielding him from view. 

They didn’t pass anyone else as they made their way outside. Bluestreak started slowing the further they got from the medbay. Even though his stay at the Autobot’s base was short Harry got a crash course in all things Cybertronian. Without the ability to walk around or distract himself by doing anything else Harry was forced to watch for hours on end Ratchet and First Aid work.   
From what he observed, First Aid was Ratchet’s apprentice. The older mech would carefully explain what he was doing for his audience. Sure Harry didn’t understand some of the jargon but he did enjoy watching the mechs get put back together. He was even lucky enough to learn about his new form this way. 

His feet now had rockets and the fins on his arms were for steering. Though where his wings were baffled both mechs. They theorized the two square plates on his back might be them but it was hard to tell. Up until this point, Harry figured that was normal but judging by the way the yellow mech acted now he wasn’t so sure. 

“I’m sorry about him. We’ve been planning on presenting you to the rest of the crew properly. Unfortunately with the increased Decepticon activity tempers have been high.” Bluestreak stopped walking as he became caught up in his thoughts. 

“Are we doing the right thing? I mean-” Bluestreak lifted Harry to eye level. “I did technically kidnap you. Would you count that as kidnapping? Cause saving your life doesn’t sound like kidnapping to me. But you’re safe now. We can’t just give you back, can we? I’m sure your creators are worried sick. But if we give you back you’ll grow up a Decepticon. And if you become a Decepticon, I’ll have to-” Bluestreak looked like he was about to vomit. Steeling his resolve the Autobot repositioned Harry back over his spark. “No. This is for the best.”   
\---  
Arthur squinted in the oppressive desert heat. Hound had escorted Neville and himself outside to use the Portkey Dumbledore had sent. Going over the mental checklist again he could hear Neville talking with Hound.

“When do you think I will get to see you again?” Neville asked from the shade of some supply crates. Noticing his human’s discomfort the Autobot cobbled together a little shade using a few more crates and a tarp.

“Hard to say. The Decepticons have been patrolling non-stop around her recently. We’re worried they might attack any day now.”

“And you’ll keep looking?” Arthur interjected making sure the dark green bot was making eye contact. 

“We’ll look but like we said-” Hound looked world-weary as he explained for the hundredth time about how cruel the enemy was.   
“I know what you said. I also know that Prowl said the kidnappings stopped after Harry was abducted.”

“You seem to hold a lot of faith in that young wizard don’t you?”

“Call it a gut feeling if you will.” Arthur tried to dismiss the skepticism by turning back to the smashed metal gas can serving as their Portkey. 

“What's that sound?” Neville asked, looking around. 

“Sounds like a jet.” Arthur felt proud he was able to apply something he learned during his stint here. 

“Slag.” Exclaimed Hound grabbing a nearby tarp to completely block the two wizards from view. “You two get home safe.” Ordered the Autobot from outside the makeshift hideout. Just outside the two of them overheard a new voice join Hound.

“Please tell me that's one of the humans.” The new voice whined.

“That would be lying. Now come on Blue. If we work together we can bring down that Con before it discovers our location.” Hound ordered before the sound of his transformation filled the air. 

“Coming, I just need to take care of something first.” The second bot called out before becoming much softer. “Sorry about this Windy. I’ll be back before you know it! Just stay safe in here.” 

Arthur was blinded by the sun as the new bot pulled back the tarp a little. When he blinked the spots out of his eyes he saw they were joined by a new person. Or was it a person-sized bot?   
His glowing green eyes regarded Arthur for a moment before it gave a chirp. In an instant, he was being hugged around the middle by the little bot. 

“Hello, little one,” Arthur said, awkwardly stroking what appeared to be goggles on its head. “What's your name?” The little bot merely shook its head burying its face into Arthur’s stomach. It made a staticy distressed noise that triggered the dad instinct within him. Wrapping his arms around the alien he tried to comfort the smaller being the best he could. Soon enough the distressed noise tapered off and the alien pulled its face away to look up at him.

He gave the same serene smile he gave to his children in hopes that some things were universal. It appeared to work as the metallic being returned a small version of its own. As they smiled at each other the air around the bot began to shimmer. The cold hardback he had his hand on turned softer and warm. In half a second the dark grey bot had morphed into a human. Not just any human.

“Harry?” 

Harry looked confused for a second. As if startled by hearing his name. The young man took a step back to look down at himself. He gave a delighted noise at what he saw.   
This was too unreal. Was this human magic or some alien magic? Why would the Autobots keep this from him? Were he and the rest of the planet being tricked by these potential invaders? Something wasn’t adding up here. 

“Harry?” Arthur pressed placing his hands on “Harry's” shoulders to capture his full attention. “I need to ask you a few questions.” “Harry” nodded in agreement.

“Your friends with my son right?” Nod. “My son David?” Harry gave a confused look and shook his head no. He was probably putting the carriage before the pegasus but Arthur was past the point of caring. He threw his arms fully around his seventh son. There was an explosion off in the distance grounding both of them to where they were. 

“Bloody hell look at the time. Neville come quick.” The older wizard urged the other boy to rush the Portkey as they only had seconds left. Grabbing each other their hands he pressed their palms firmly on the gas can, his fingers splayed over the tops of theirs. In a whirl of color, the three touched down on the wet moonlit grounds of Hogwarts.  
\---  
Energon level: 20%

Blitzwing ignored the warning as he stumbled to his peds. How long had he been out? Ever since Soundwave informed him where Windfall was last seen he had trekked through the sand rather than circling the air. Sometime during his search, his systems forced him into statis sleep. Growling at his frame’s weakness he took to the air. Over the last few light cycles, he could feel in his spark Windfall was still online. A sudden flare-up in their connection jolted him out of statis. The signal was close. Flying almost blind he failed to see the Autobots.

The gunner’s aim was true as Blitzwing was shot out of the sky. In an effort for self-preservation, his T-cog forced him back into robot mode. Lying in the hot sand he saw the two Autobots approach. 

Bluestreak. Of course, it was Bluestreak. As he stared definitely up at his attacker he felt the steady thrum of his bond with his sparkling go silent. The universe stood still.  
His entire frame slumped. Looking up he saw the barrel of a laser rifle point at his helm. Leaning forward he only had one thing to say,

“Just do it.”  
\---   
When the three of them touched down they were greeted by Professor McGonagall. Her tired expression shifted to a look of alarm. 

“Arthur? Is that? But how?” Seeing the stoic professor so flustered should’ve been amusing. Harry was just so relieved to see her it hurt. 

“I’m not sure, but we need to get inside quickly.” Mr. Weasley made a motion for McGonagall to lead the way. Gathering her wits she motioned for the three of them to follow.   
Judging by the emptiness of the hallways it must’ve been after curfew. 

“I take it you know the way,” McGonagall asked when they got inside the castle. Mr. Weasley nodded, placing a hand on Harry’s back. “I will escort Mr. Longbottom to his dormitory then. Mr. Potter, it's good to see you again.” She gave a small tired smile before guiding Neville away.

“Let's get you to Professor Dumbledore. You’ve been gone for a while so things might be different while you adjust. No matter what you are always welcome at The Burrow.” Said Mr. Weasley. Harry gave a chirp before going in for another hug. 

The hug was brief and unsatisfying as Harry was ushered up to the Headmaster's Office. When they entered Dumbledore’s blue eyes widened with surprise. His eyes never left Harry’s as he got up from behind his desk to approach them. 

“Harry my dear boy where have you been?” 

Clenching his jaw Harry looked down and away. Placing gentle hands-on Harry’s shoulders Dumbledore coaxed him to look at him. 

“I found him at the base,” said Mr. Weasley. 

“On the Cybertronian side?” 

“Yes.” Dumbledore knowing about the Autobots would make explaining things easier. 

“Harry, I know this is going to be hard for you, but I need to know everything that happened to you since last summer.” Dumbledore’s eyes were boring into his.  
“Professor.” Said Mr. Weasley. “There is something you should know. Go ahead, Harry.”

Harry shook his head. He didn’t want to. What if he couldn’t change back? They’ll never allow him to stay looking like an alien. 

“Harry it's ok.” Mr. Weasley tried to soothe him only for Harry to shake his head harder. In his panic, a distressed noise came out. Dumbledore’s let go of Harry’s shoulder as if he was burned.   
“What did they do to you?” Dumbledore said more to himself than anyone. 

“I’m not sure. What I do know is that he seems to be able to control it.” Mr. Weasley assured the Headmaster. “I am worried it might be a case of botched transfiguration.”   
With the conversation turning from aliens to magic Dumbledore physically relaxed. 

“It's ok Harry. You’re safe here.” 

Taking a step back Harry set down the bag he'd been carrying this whole time. With a deep breath he tried to figure out how to change. Looking down at his arm he tried to imagine it being shiny metallic rather than tan. After a few awkward seconds, Harry’s vision began to swim. Recognizing the signs of him going to sleep he made his way to a chair. He shrugged at the adults still watching him.

“I think that is enough for one night.” Dumbledore ushered for Harry to follow him. When he was led to a door behind the large phoenix statue behind the desk Harry frowned. “It's too soon to return to the dormitory. There is a lot of go over from here: getting you current on your schoolwork for instance.” 

Harry gave a small smile in response. The hallway was pitch black except for a few small balls of floating light. 

“This is the Headmaster’s guest room. Until we get a few details sorted out this will be your home. Get some rest, breakfast is in a few hours.” There was a sound of bottles clinking together signalling Dumbledore had carried his bag with them. With that Harry was alone. Feeling his limbs becoming heavy he walked over to the small bed to collapse upon.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What hath Arthur wrought?

There was a human phrase Jazz had picked up on his short time on Earth. ‘When it rains it pours.’ Considering the type of rain on Cybertron, that phrase worked perfectly for their current situation. Just as Ironhide had taken Sunstreaker down to the brig for inciting a riot he got a ping from Hound about a Decepticon attack. Taking charge as best he could, Jazz sent Cliffjumper to check on the wizards to make sure they made their portkey jump safely. The last thing they needed was for the Decepticons to discover the magical subspecies. 

“The jump appears to be successful.” The red bot reported over the comm. Armor relaxing a few micrometers Jazz could check one less thing off his things-to-worry-about list. Order had been restored now that Sunstreaker was contained. As soon as the Decepticon threat had been dealt with Optimus was going to hold an all Autobot announcement introducing Windfall properly.   
All Jazz wanted to do was sit with his new sparkling and play him music. Ever since Ratchet’s scans proved that Windfall was indeed a legitimate sparkling he and Prowl were quick to volunteer to rear him. 

They had it all worked out already.

Day cycle Windfall would be with Prowl in his office. Prowl could work while the little one napped on him. He’d done it before when Blue was a youngling. During the night cycle if Bluestreak and Jazz were on base they would spend the time as a family. A brief break from the bleak war that surrounds them. A reminder of a future worth protecting.

Shaking his helm he took some solace that the little one was safe with Bluestreak speeding away at the moment.

“We need an empty cell,” Hound announced to Jazz over the comm. “We managed to capture a Con!”

“Status Report. NOW.” Prowl ordered over the link.

“The Con signature we discovered earlier was Blitzwing. He's in bad shape. Almost in statis when we shot him out the air. Showed no hostility when approached. He even requested Blue to shoot him through the helm.” 

Jazz felt his processor almost lock up. Switching to Bluestreak’s personal comm the spy tried to remain calm.

“Explain.” Was all he managed.

“Well, I was heading out with Windfall at first. Then Hound told me about the Decepticon. And I thought, hey what if it tries to follow us? So then I hid Windy under that tarp near where the humans keep all their supplies yah know? Then I shot that Con right out the air. Then he’s like, just do it. And I was all like, what? Next thing I know he slumps over like nothing. So then I thought, hey maybe we can take him as a prisoner. Get some info. Maybe find out where Windfall came from-.” 

“Wait. You mean the supply crates near the west exit?” Jazz asked.

“Yeah, that's the one!”

“Is that the area where the wizards were supposed to portkey from?” Prowl asked but his tone suggested he already knew the answer. Jazz didn’t answer, he was already bursting into the midday sun. Optics adjusting he raced towards where Blue had reported he stored the sparkling at. He ripped the tarp off the crates to reveal nothing but sand underneath. 

\---  
“How long you think you’ll be in there?” Sideswipe asked over their twin bond. When the fighting broke out the red mech wasn’t a part of the chaos. He was just sitting here his brother left him trying to figure out what was just said to him. It worked out for Sunstreaker though, since his brother could relay everything going on the rest of the base. 

“Who knows. Any work from the upper brass yet?”

“Not yet. Apparently, patrol managed to capture a Con.”

“Great. Let's just invite the whole Decepticon Army in. We’ll have a sleepover and polish each other’s plating!” 

“Yeah, no kidding.” 

“Shut up. They’re bringing the Con in now.”

“Keep me posted.” Said Sideswipe before going silent.

A few kliks later Blitzwing was dragged down towards the cell directly across from Sunstreaker. Ironhide placed him with his back against the far wall so he faced the bars. Even though the flyer was mostly tan to start with Sunstreaker could see the layer of Earth filth covering his paint job. He looked about as if he was about to go into stasis. 

“Don’t go offline yet. Optimus will want to have a word with yah.” Ordered the red bot before walking off. Sunstreaker waited until he was gone before crawling over the bars. Leaning against the solid portion of the cell he peered through the plasma bars towards Blitzwing. 

“Hey, Con. CON! Decepi-freak!” Sunstreaker called out to no avail. This was Blitzwing right? One of the easiest mechs to goat into a fight. Frustration building the yellow fighter made a show of getting comfortable. “So Glitch-wing. I have got to ask, was there just the one sparkling, or did Megatron eat the rest?” 

It was only a few centimeters but the Con lifted his head slightly. 

“Also, is it a real sparkling or just something Shockwave spot welded together while he was overcharged?” More movement from the other cell. Good. “I mean. That has got to be the ugliest bot I’ve ever seen!”

Feeling particularly vindictive, Sunstreaker decided to really get a rise from the enemy. 

“I mean really. It was bad enough it was a seeker but a seeker with no wings! I wouldn’t have wasted paint on it either!”

“If that’s all you have to say I would like to recharge now.” Said Blitzwing. He sounded tired. Sunstreaker’s grin slipped off his faceplate. He sat up straighter so he could get a better look at the other mech. The triple changer’s visor was dim as he had slipped into recharge. Not sure what to make of what just happened Sunstreaker opened his comm to his brother again.  
\---  
“How do we contact the wizards?” Optimus asked out of the blue. Sparkplug looked up from his paperwork at his old friend. For some reason when he found out that magic was real it was a lot harder for him to process than giant mechanical aliens. 

“What's wrong? Did Arthur leave something behind?”

“No. We think he took something with him.”

Sparkplug set down his custom pen. Arthur had been called a few things but 'thief' was never one of them. 

“Yah sure?” 

“Definitely.” Rumbled the Autobot. 

“What could he possibly want that he couldn’t just know.” The human-made a gesture in the air mimicking wand movements. Optimus made a noise showcasing his weariness. 

“A few days ago one of our scouts, Bluestreak, found an unknown object in the desert. That objection turned out to be what we call a sparkling. Or as what you call your young, a baby.” Optimus allowed Sparkplug a second to absorb the news. 

“No.” 

“Yes. We believe the sparkling Windfall is now in possession of the wizards.” Optimus nodded to his old friend’s horror. Taking a few deep breaths Sparkplug tried to push the memory of the destroyed vending machine the eccentric wizard had systematically ripped apart. How he carefully laid out the pieces like he was performing an autopsy. 

Taking a few deep breaths he tried not to imagine a minibot looking suspiciously like Bumblebee being taken apart in such a manner. 

“According to this-” Sparkplug pulled out a paper from a file just for the wizarding world. “He was leaving to return one, Neville Longbottom, back outside the school.” That was another thing that blew his mind. There was this sprawling underworld just outside the purview of normal folks. Complete with its own government, school systems, and even jobs completely autonomous from the rest of the world. In his youth Sparkplug feared creatures like the werewolf and lake monsters. Were those lurking in the shadows too? The whole thing kept him up at night.

“We have the specific coordinates from Hound. With your permission, I would like to send a small team to perform the extraction.” Jazz offered. Both Prime and Staff Sergeant flinched in surprise. It wasn’t often they witnessed the full extent of Jazz’s saboteur nature. 

“I’m coming too.” Sparkplug volunteered. Maybe his presence would help even though he was non-magical. That's what he was hoping at least. 

“I am requesting Sparkplug, Bumblebee, and Hound for my team.” 

“Granted.” Optimus nodded before grabbing the smaller mech by the arm. “I’m sure this was just an innocent mistake.”

“For their sake it better be.”  
\---  
When Starscream usually hit a bulkhead his other trine members would attempt to calm their leader down. This time was different. While their leader was working out some frustrations the other two were busy. Not even a full Earth light cycle had gone by since they heard the news. 

Blitzwing had betrayed the Decepticon cause. 

He had been taken in by the Autobot scum. That alone wouldn’t have been suspicious if was not the same spot Windfall had disappeared from. Not to mention it was Bluestreak who took him in. Bluestreak, the Autobot’s trigger happy gunner. Everything seemed too convenient for everyone’s taste. Skywarp was stunned he teleported back to base to report what he had witnessed. Within the Earth hour, Megatron made a ship-wide announcement of the triple changer’s betrayal.

‘Knew we shouldn’t have trusted that ground pounder wannabe!’ Starscream had screeched much to the agreement of others. Everyone was given a shoot-on-sight order with an emphasis on being greatly rewarded for the safe return of the seekerling Windfall. 

In their shared space the three older seekers had set up a system of maps and timetables. Windfall belonged to the seekers and not even Megatron was willing to stand in their way.

“Maybe he's an outlier like us?” Skywarp thought aloud. He was looking over the datapad with the map of the surrounding desert. 

“That would help explain how he managed to get off the tracker,” Thundercracker added picking up a fresh datapad. He keyed in some possible outlier traits they noticed.  
“Maybe he's a warper like me.”

“That wouldn’t explain the removal of the tracker.” Thundercracker tapped the side of the datapad as he thought. “Screamer get over here and help us with your big processor for once.”   
Starscream stopped assaulting the bulkhead. With his face still facing them, he announced that he was going for a fly. 

Alone.

Feeling put out the remaining seekers silently agreed to put aside their search temporarily.  
\---  
If Starscream silenced his voice modulator and used his processor for once he’d be a lot better off. Soundwave had just finished his daily maintenance on his cassettes when Ravage was returning from her recon mission. The grate covering the air vent above Soundwave’s workstation in his living space had long been removed. The air vents were the cassetticons' haven and none of the other Decepticons had a clue. She poked her head out of the vent to make sure she wasn’t going to land on someone. Neither Soundwave nor Laserbeak flinched when she landed with a thud on the workstation. Ravage sat patiently waiting for her master to finish replacing Laserbeak’s now sand-free lens. With a happy noise, the aerial spy fluttered off the desk towards the floor. She played back the entire conversation with a video for her master. Pleased with the info he gave her an affectionate scratch under her jaw. Growling with contentment she hopped off the table on to the floor next to her brothers. 

Pulling out his datapad he compared the seeker’s notes to his own. If only Starscream knew how close he was. When the desert proved to be a dead-end the flyer had theorized that the little one had found a way back to his original home. When that proved to be a dead-end they refocused their efforts on the villages scattered throughout the desert. 

Windfall’s forgotten datapad had proved to be an unexpectedly rich vein of information. The words were irrelevant. It was the little pictures that he was interested in. Pictures of the same castle. Of birds classified as owls. One specific owl he discovered was not normally found in the small island Windfall originated from. Humans were known to befriend/enslave the lesser being on this planet. The sheer amount of pictures dedicated to this recurring creature gave Soundwave an idea. 

If they found the castle fortress and the rare avian, Windfall could be found. 

Ejecting Buzzsaw he debriefed his plan to the plan. Equipped with the images of several promising castle fortresses and a real-life photo of the owl he sent his cassette off. Feeling properly satisfied he pushed away from his work station to retire for the night. 

“Hey, boss. Lookie here.” Called out Rumble. Looking down Soundwave was treated to his brood standing next to their nest. It was a drawer that had a section carved out to allow the small cons to walk in and out as they please. Lined wall to wall was a mismatched collection of clean rags and pillows for them to sleep on. 

“We have it all figured out.” The cassette motioned to his siblings. In a practiced motion, they all took their favorite spots in the nest. If everyone was together the two flyers would perch on the edge of the drawer on opposite sides. Inside, Frenzy and Rumble would nestle next to each other with Ravage at their peds. “When Windfall joins us he can recharge right here.” 

He made a motion between himself and his brother. With Ravage at his feet and Frenzy and Rumble at his side, he would have the softest most comfortable spot in the universe. It was funny. Soundwave was ready for a fight when he introduced his brood to the seekerling. Instead, after the bulkhead incident, the two of them fell in love with Windfall.   
Reaching down Soundwave stroked the top of their helms. They both gave a smile as they made themselves comfortable. 

“Arrangement: acceptable.” 

Once Lord Megatron took back the sparkling he wouldn’t have time to watch him properly. Starscream thinks he was a natural choice. Like everything though, Starscream was wrong. 

Starscream inferior. Soundwave superior.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda wrote myself into a corner here. Windfall/Harry is going to spent some time in the wizard world with limited food. I'm an idiot.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the love and support! Ask me questions on my Tumblr (What-the-ship) if you want.

It was turning lighter outside when Harry woke up. He still felt exhausted but his stomach was complaining. Looking around he tried to gauge the room a little better in the light. There was the bed he was on and a mirror hanging on the wall. Underneath the small round mirror was a tall table just big enough to hold a large bowl. Tucked underneath was a chamberpot.   
Near the door was his backpack. In the plain brick walls of the room, it looked particularly dirty. At the sight of the bag, his stomach gave another rumble. There was food in there. In a few short steps, Harry was kneeling down to pick up the bag to bring it back towards the bed. Opening it he pulled out one of the bottles. Hand already on the stopper he paused. Shimmering in the morning light Harry realized what he was about to drink. 

Humans don’t drink Energon. With all his willpower he slipped the bottle back into the bag. Any moment now he was going to talk with Professor Dumbledore. Then he would be on his way to breakfast. Hopefully. Placing the bag under the bed Harry stood up looking around for a way to distract him from his hunger. Approaching the mirror Harry leaned in close to inspect his face.   
Everything appeared to be in order. His irises looked the same, no glowing there. His ears appeared normal and bendable. Even the inside of this mouth looked perfectly human. Feeling confident he tried to speak. 

‘Don’t force it. Let your vocalizer do the work.’ Bluestreak’s words echoed through his head. There was a small pang of guilt now that he was thinking about him. He was the one who visited him every day in the medbay. Trying not to think about the mech’s bright smile Harry focused on forming the words again. 

A few failed words later Harry decided to give up. Pushing away from the mirror he wandered over to the window. Peering out he saw an unremarkable patch of lawn. If he wanted to he could open the window and walk on top of the room inches below. There was a knock on the door before Dumbledore entered. 

“Ah good to see you’re awake Harry.” Smiled the old man. Harry gave a smile back resisting the urge to hug him. 

“Come. Sit.” He motioned for Harry to sit on the bed. Pulling out his wand Dumbledore summoned the pillow to transform into a chair. “Feel any better today?”

All Harry could do was stare blankly at the older man. Feeling no other option Harry responded with a lower chirp. Thankfully the older wizard was expecting that. 

“Yes or no question for the time being then. According to your cousin: you were taken from the park by an airplane that transformed into a metal man. Is that true?”

Nod.

“Did you see who was controlling them?” 

Head shake. Then Harry made a face. He wanted to convey that the mechs were alive. Unsatisfied the Headmaster kept going.

“Mr. Weasley said when he saw you that you looked different. Like one of the metallic men that took you. Did you do that to yourself?” 

That one was harder. Did his magic change him or was it the Decepticons? When he first woke up after being kidnapped he was human. It wasn’t until he got lost in the desert that he looked metallic. His stomach gave a rumble again. Maybe he should’ve drunk the Energon sooner. 

“We can pick this conversation back up after a spot of breakfast. I’ll call up Madame Pomfrey as well.” Dumbledore patted Harry on the arm before leaving. Smiling Harry got off the bed to return to the window. Opening it he leaned out to try and feel the wind on his face. 

\---  
The air was as unforgivingly cold as Starscream remembered. He had decided he wanted to be as far away from the sun-scorched desert as physically possible. Unfortunately, in fleeing one depressing area he was flying directly into another. A blast of freezing wind almost locked his processor. Transforming into robot mode his still hot peds melted the snow where he landed. Lifting his peds he took a few steps so the rapidly cooling water wouldn’t freeze him in place. A scan alerted him to an ice cavern only half a mile from his current location. 

Stretching several feet higher than Starscream’s helm the cave appeared to be made of solid ice. Ducking in he relished the almost instant difference he felt. Looking around his scientific curiosity taking hold he began exploring. Earth was one of the most unique planets. For such a small planet its topography was the most diverse he’d ever been on. Most planets had a mono climate throughout. 

Thinking on it he remembered the first time he laid optic to this place. Him and Skyfire. Two flyers against the universe. They fought the low RAM functionalist Autobot council for equal treatment. Together they stood firm against their professors. Until finally they were granted a deep space mission. Together they glided through space with a comfortable silence between them.   
Galaxy Q-17-Tau. A yellow dwarf star with eight and a half planets orbiting it. The half classification on the final ‘planet’ was due to Skyfire’s insistence that the little rock was a planet due to having its own moon. Figuring his time was better elsewhere Starscream barely gave a fight. 

Each planet was as disappointing as the last. One planet could just be classified as a giant self-contained windstorm. Passing the asteroid swarm they were originally headed to the red rocky planet. Scans there showed some potential. When Starscream went to land he was surprised that Skyfire was not following.   
“Where are you going?” Starscream asked. 

“Look at it Star,” Skyfire said. The tone of awe and wonder gave the seeker a pause. Following where the shuttle’s nose was pointed Starscream saw what his friend was so fascinated with. From their vantage point, the planet wasn’t anything special. It was mostly blue with patches of green and brown. If it wasn’t for his partner’s tone Starscream would’ve demanded they stuck to the route. Spark winning out over processor Starscream led the way towards the third planet from the star. Flying low the two of them went to work scanning the surface. Neither of them had ever seen H2O in a liquid state before. Before they departed to circle the globe on their own Skyfire flew so low over the water it sent a wave towards Starscream. 

“You did that on purpose.” Starscream accused as he was struck by the wave. Skyfire only laughed as he took off to do some work. As time stretched on they would comm each other with something interesting they found.

“Hey Star?”

“Hm?”

“I know what we should name this planet.” Skyfire gave a pause before answering “Aqueous.” 

A unique planet deserves a unique name. Since they were the ones to discover it they were allowed at least that much freedom. Noticing he was thinking too long Starscream sent back a response.

“It's fine I guess.” 

Several kliks went by of radio silence. 

“Alright. Alright. It is an acceptable name.” Still nothing. “Skyfire? Send me your coordinates NOW!” 

Halting his search he threw his thrusts into overdrive to head to where he calculated the shuttle would be. When he got there he was tossed by a violent bitter wind. In space, Cybertornians could fight off the cold with their frame heat. On this planet, the frozen water and wind were sapping the heat off him faster than he could create it. His wings were icing up. His fuel lines were beginning to freeze. 

Realizing he was useless in saving anyone offline he managed to get out of the storm. By the time the storm had passed Skyfire’s comm had gone silent forever. 

He was on the same planet the inhabitants called Earth. Earth was a stupid name for this planet. It only had a twenty-five percent solid surface. Humans were dumb.   
Running a servo over the opaque walls he kept walking. He felt a pang in his spark again. Starscream gave a pause as he placed a servo over his spark chamber. No. This is different than with the Windfall situation. Seeker coding taking over he followed the pull in his spark. 

It didn’t take him long to reach the back of the cave. At first glance, it looked like a plain white wall of solid ice. Peering closer he noticed there was a thin layer of frost he felt the need to brush away. A few kliks later the seeker felt his vents stall for a second. Through the cloudy ice, he saw a huge blue servo trapped inside. Engaging his heel thrusters he furiously brushed away more frost to reveal the Cybertronian underneath. Landing hard Starscream stared up at the face he thought he’d only see in his recharge cycles.   
Skyfire.

“Found you.” Starscream managed to say aloud.

\---  
Blitzwing was proving to be more useless than usual. He didn’t know any plans. Or codes. Or anything really. All he did was stare blankly at the wall not looking at Prowl. Sunstreaker thought interrogations were supposed to be intense. Complete with yelling and flipped tables. Instead, the yellow Lamborghini was tormented with Prowl’s calm monotone questioning.   
When Optimus arrived Sunstreaker felt like he was saved. 

‘Please. Please take Prowl with you.’ He begged internally. ‘Silence was better than this processor numbing line of questioning.’ 

“I don’t think he has any information for us Optimus.” Reported Prowl stepping away from the plasma bars. 

“Very well. We have but one more question to ask of you.” Optimus pulled a datapad from his subspace to show to Blitzwing. “Do you recognize either one of these images?” 

The purple/tan triple changer rolled his helm to look at the images.

“You taunt me with pictures of my offline sparkling? You are far crueler than Megatron told.” The flyer managed to say. Sunstreaker was surprised at how staticky he sounded.

“Offline?” “Your sparkling.” Spoke Optimus and Prowl over one another. 

“Yes. I felt his spark fade away in the desert.” Blitzwing placed a servo over his spark chamber. “Even now my spark is reaching out for him.”

“That's not how bonds work you stupid Con,” Sunstreaker announced loudly. The three of them turned to face him, they seemed to have forgotten he was there. “Bonds don’t fade away. Sure they get quieter with distance but that's not enough to dissolve them. If your creation was truly offline it would hurt. It would hurt worse than anything your pathetic processor could ever imagine.”   
With a slag eating smirk on his face Sunstreaker leaned back against the wall once again. Completely smug with himself. 

“Windfall is still online?” The Decepticon said quietly. To Sunstreaker’s horror, the mech sat up straight suddenly full of life. “He’s just far away.” The smile of elation from finding out his creation was still online faded into horror. “That means he isn’t here. And if he's not here then, where is he?” 

“That's also why we need you to identify the second picture. The humans are certain this human was taken by one of your fellow Decepticons.” Optimus pressed holding out the datapad closer to the plasma bars. Blitzwing stopped panicking to look at the image.

“Slag what they want! I refuse to answer any more questions until Windfall has been returned to me.” 

Both Optimus and Prowl looked uncomfortable. 

“Very well,” Optimus said before walking away. Prowl gave a glance back before hurrying after the Prime. 

\--  
“I noticed you didn’t tell him.” Prowl said over the comm. 

“We need to convince Blitzwing that he and his creation are safer here than with the Decepticons. If he knew our human allies were the ones who possibly kidnapped Windfall he would never agree to join us.”

“There is a twenty-three percent chance of this working out as you're planning.” Prowl calculated. “That's assuming the humans are innocent.”

“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” Quoted Optimus. Prowl wasn’t going to dignify that phrase with a response. 

Nothing more was said between the two of them. Both too deep in thought as they made their predictions of what the future might hold.

\--  
When Professor Dumbledore had returned he brought Madam Pomfrey with him. With a few flourishes of his wand, a table complete with two chairs and a simple breakfast manifested. Scrambled eggs, two strips of bacon, and buttered toast. Harry’s smile grew at the sight of the chilled pumpkin juice. Taking the seat closest to him he went to reach for the fork. 

“A moment Mr. Potter.” Madame Pomfrey interrupted. She took a roll of leather with tools inside. Laid out Harry saw some parchment, a white quill, and a long sharp pin. “Professor Dumbledore told me a little bit about your problem. This quill is used to help treat patients that have been Silenced or cursed to where they can’t talk. All you need to do is hold out your hand so I can take a drop of blood.” She said with a bright smile while holding the too long pin. Figuring the sooner they got this over with the faster he’d eat Harry held out his left hand. She gently cradled his hand as she poked the pinky finger. 

To her credit, she kept her composure when the color of Harry’s blood was pink. Harry had seen Cybertronian ‘blood’ before. It was like the Energon they drank but thicker. Madame Pomfrey blinked a few times but grabbed the white quill anyway. 

“One drop is more than enough.” She said as she placed the tip on the drop. Her eyes grew wider as it turned the same color and began to emit a little light. Keeping up the charade of normalcy she went to place the quill to the parchment. 

“Now let's see what-” She stopped talking when the quill fell over. Knowing it wasn’t going to work she placed the quill down to turn back to Harry. 

“Guess that will have to wait until later then. That's alright there is more than one way to skin a toad.” Madame Pomfrey then proceeded to perform every diagnostic spell she knew. Her smile steadily began to shrink with each failed attempt. By the fourth spell, Professor Dumbledore stepped in. 

“I believe Mr. Potter’s breakfast has grown cold enough.” He said. 

“Yes. Yes. Of course. I will see myself out.” She said, gathering her things.

“Nonsense my dear. I will walk you out.” Professor Dumbledore got up from his chair to escort her out. Taking their leaving as permission Harry grabbed the goblet of pumpkin juice to take a big swallow. He instantly made a face. Did the juice spoil without anyone noticing? 

Wanting to get that awful taste out of his mouth Harry took a bite of the scrambled eggs. Madame Pomfrey and Dumbeldore got to the door when Harry’s stomach gave a heave. A few seconds later everything Harry had eaten was now on the stone floor. 

Madame Pomfrey ushered him back onto his bed as Dumbledore cleared the mess. With the promise to be back soon they left Harry in the room alone.

When the door snapped shut Harry rolled over to pull out his bag from underneath the bed. Uncaring about keeping up appearances he managed to yank off the cork before taking a deep swig. Half a bottle later he felt like crying. At this rate, he would never be accepted back into the wizarding world. 

Putting back the bottle he noticed a datapad nestled inside. The back portion was facing him with Cybertronian symbols etched onto it. Soundwave would've been happy to know that Harry was able to read 'Windfall' instantly. Taking it our Harry hugged it to his chest for some comfort. Inside his chest, his heart yearned for someone to hold him and tell him everything was going to be ok.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Been pondering for a while what color to make Windfall's seeker form:  
> Griffindor colors (Black, Goldenrod, bright red) or Earth colors (Green, blue, with small amounts of tan). Comment below or message me on Tumblr

Albus Dumbledore knew he had made more than his fair share of mistakes. The people he hurt and continues to hurt to achieve his goals. 

‘For the greater good.’ Was the mantra of Grindelwald that Albus had adopted decades ago. What good could come of what he was doing now? 

In front of him was a sheet of parchment with his findings of the sample they took mere hours ago. The list contained various ingredients that no living being could have running through their veins. At the top of the breakdown was a substance known as Star Essence. A rare substance usually found in small crystal deposits around meteor sites. In magic, the crystals were used to power machines meant to run without reapplying magic frequently. Due to its volatile nature, it was a crucial ingredient in making everlasting fire. The amount listed in front of Albus was enough to power a time-turner! 

Whatever was in the headmaster’s guest room was NOT human. Let alone, Harry Potter. Now he was left with more questions than answers at this point.  
What was that thing? And why did it look the still missing Harry Potter? 

This required more research but for now, he was going to make nice to the pretender in the other room. If it knew what the boy looked like and acted maybe it would know where the real Harry was. For Harry’s sake. 

For the greater good. 

Reaching across his desk he bought the mirror he thought he’d never have to use closer. Back when the castle housed nobility the mirror was used to spy on foreign dignitaries. Under normal circumstances, he would not have to go to such lengths. A quick peek into someone’s mind was quicker. Cradling the hand mirror in his palm he checked on the ‘thing’ still asleep. Whatever it was, it wasn’t anything he’d seen before. He had performed occlumency on many magical beasts so that wasn’t an issue. The issue was the irritating sound he heard accompanying a headache-inducing series of lights.

It was too far away to properly tell if it was even breathing or not. Figuring his time was better spent elsewhere Albus placed the mirror back on its simple metal easel. Picking up a quill he inked ‘Star Essence’ on a scrap bit of parchment. Tearing it off he traded the quill for his wand to touch to the torn-off strip. Thinking of the searching spell he touched his wand to the strip as it caught a lite. Letting go the scrap turned to ash instantly midair. The pile hung there for half a second before scattering in different directions. There were five soft thuds as the pile turned to circles on the books they landed on. Using a summoning spell he waved the books over to the desk. 

They were thick as they were old. Reading the top book’s title his bushy eyebrows knitted together. Random at a glance Albus knew what each book had in common: Artificial life. Golem, Inferi, and even homunculus graced the pages of each book. What sort of dark magic was Tom Riddle up to now? Or worse still. Was it a new unheard of group prowling in the shadows using the Death Eater’s recent activity as a cover?

That would explain why Harry hadn’t been found yet. Voldemort would have made a spectacle of Harry’s body if he was the one to take the boy’s life. Maybe another more in-depth conversation with Arthur needed to happen. For the time being Albus was going to have a word with Mr. Longbottom about his trip to Mexico.  
\--

“Who is this?” Thundercracker asked, waving the scanner over the half-frozen mech. When he first agreed to drop everything to head to Earth’s most northern pole neither he nor Skywarp questioned it. It took less time that way. Now that they were there it seemed like the right time to get some answers.

“I told you, this is Skyfire. We were fellow scientists at the academy many vorns ago.”

“I think he was asking what sort of relationship you two have?” Skywarp chimed in. Thundercracker sent his trine mate a look. 

“Whatever it is you are insinuating Skywarp you are wrong!” Starscream yelled loud enough to wake the half-dead shuttle. 

“Star?” He said weakly turning his helm. “What happened?”

“There was a storm. Don’t move, you’ve been frozen in ice for over four million vorns.”

“That's a long time.” Said the mech resting his helm against Starscream. He looked worn out but happy. 

“It was. But you're safe with me now.” Said Starscream. While their leader was being uncharacteristically gentle the others looked at each other uncomfortable. Pit. Nearly every Decepticon had a story as to why they joined the cause. Thundercracker was sick of the condescension and ire he got for being a seeker. Skywarp joined due to the fear of his warp drive being removed for experimentation. The Autobots loved dissecting outliers for their mutations, reverse engineering what they found only to claim their brilliant scientists were the inventors.  
Starscream claimed it was the hardships he faced as a seeker scientist. Seeing their loud angry second in command talk to this ‘Skyfire’ made Thundercracker question some things. Did Starscream beg the counsel for resources to save the shuttle? Was it the callous disregard for Skyfire’s life that pushed the seeker into the ranks of Megatron? Speaking of Megatron, Starscream was finishing telling his friend about their noble cause.

“It has been a long war. But I see an end in sight. Soon as I become supreme ruler all Cybertronians will be free.” Starscream was yelling again. “With you by my side, we could end this war within the stellar cycle.”

“You know I’m not one for violence Star.” 

“Even for our sparkling?”

T.C and Warp shared a look. They should've seen that coming. For all that talk of little Windy belonging to the seekers, Starscream was planning on taking the sparkling all for himself.

“Our spark-. It's not. We didn’t.” Skyfire leaned in to whisper nut Skywarp and Thundercracker heard him clearly. “We haven’t even interfaced yet.” 

“That's neither here nor there! The point is Megatron lost the seekerling and when he is found he will be ours to mentor. We can give him the chance we never had. The choice to be whatever he wants. To not be limited to his alt form.” Preached Starscream getting surprisingly close to the shuttle. Thundercracker shifted feeling like he was invading on something he and Warp weren’t supposed to see. 

Smiling Skyfire sat up to test his servos for mobility. Satisfied he reached out to grab Starscream’s servos to pull the seeker closer. 

“To bond with whoever he wants.” Skyfire pulled Starscream close enough to where their forehelms touched. Skywarp began walking away at that point with Thundercracker following after. Seeing Screamer acting so domestic made their tanks churn in disgust.  
\---

Neville was expecting the jeers of being lost in the forbidden forest for almost a week. What he wasn’t expecting was the rush of people interested in his time there. Ron and Hermione kept to the outskirts of the groups that approached Keeping his lies simple and vague right up until Professor McGonagall caught him on the way to breakfast. 

“Don’t give me that look, you are not in trouble.” Said McGonagall not looking at him. She stopped right before the entrance to the headmaster’s office. She rounded on Neville to grab his shoulders.

“Mr. Longbottom. I know it has been difficult for you over the years. I just wanted to remind you were placed in the Gryffindor House for a reason.” With that, she gave the password for the office and walked off. Neville stood there watching her until she disappeared around the corner. In a slight daze, Neville ascended the stairs. Entering Neville tried not to look too interested in the whirling silvery items around the room. Truth be told he’d never been in here before. 

“Good morning Mr. Longbottom. “ Greeted the old wizard. He looked tired. “I take it you slept well.”

“As well as I could sir.” Said Neville.

“Of course. A lot is going on in the world. Which is why I need your help.” When Neville didn’t say anything the Headmaster continued. “Where exactly were you the last few days?”  
Neville took a deep breath through his nose. Prowl’s warning of not telling anyone about what he saw filtered through his thoughts. As Dumbledore leaned over his desk Neville’s mind raced through his time with Hound. Starting from when he first became friends with the alien right up until he got a hug in the form of being picked up and nuzzled. 

“We will meet again soon. I promise.” Was the last thing the green Autobot said to him. 

“I’m sorry sir. I got lost in the forest.” Neville averted his eyes towards his lap. For some reason, the Headmaster seemed content with the non-answer. 

“I see. Must’ve been scary for you.” 

“Yeah.” Neville tried to chuckle. He petered out weakly as Dumbledore kept staring. 

“You may return to class now.” Dismissed Dumbledore. Neville couldn’t help but feel the wave of disappointment he often felt from his Gran.  
\---

After waking up Harry quickly became bored. There were no books. Nothing to write/draw with. Even his cupboard had a fist full of broken discarded miniature figures he could make up stories about. All he had to distract himself was the window. Thinking of feeling the wind on his face Harry opened the window. As the cold air tickled his face Harry was reminded he had no idea what the date was. 

Not satisfied with the breeze on his face Harry climbed out of the window onto the roof below. The roof was a small patch between two slopes on the roof. It was barely wide enough for him to walk towards the edge yet it was worth it to feel the air. As he looked out over the Forbidden Forest he noticed a dark haze moving towards the castle. As he watched the haze turned to a group of dots. Smiling Harry realized it was the morning post. Sure enough, the parliament of owls (Hermione was entirely too excited to tell him and Ron the official name) moved to circle the castle.  
Not seeing any white in the mass he gave an exhale. Feeling more alone than ever he sat on the edge of the roof massaging his chest. His heart hurt. Part of him wanted to demand Dumbledore take him to his friends. Or better yet, Sirius. 

Staring blankly Harry allowed his thoughts to wander about living with Sirius. Surely after the Decepticon incident, the Dursleys would refuse to take him back. Probably find a way to blame him for the attack in the first place. He imagined being enveloped by his godfather. The gentle larger hand carted through his hair reassuringly. In his mind’s eye, Harry’s soft hair turned to ‘Windfall’s’ audials. That switch caused Harry to open his eyes again.

He was certain that if his godfather could accept a werewolf as a best friend Harry’s condition shouldn’t phase him. Probably make jokes and they would laugh at the absurdity of it all. 

“Harry?” Called out Professor Dumbledore. Harry scrambled back inside as fast as he could. 

“Oh, there you are.” Greeted the older man as if Harry hadn’t almost fallen through the window. “Feeling better I hope.” Harry nodded enthusiastically. “Good. I was hoping we would be able to talk for more than a few minutes today.”

When Harry gave another nod the headmaster pulled out several flat sheets of parchment, a well of ink, and several quills. 

“Let’s begin. Starting from the start of summer. What do you remember.” 

Nodding in understanding Harry picked up the closest quill. Frowning he noticed how difficult a time he was having picking up the thin writing tool. It was like his hands decided to stop working as he kept trying to grasp the quill. When he finally managed to pick it up it snapped in his grip. Even when he was first learning to use a quill he didn’t have this hard of a time.  
Tossing the broken one aside Harry managed to pick up a second one. Using all his control he began to write.  
\---

Albus had both a frustrating amount of information as well as a severe lack of it. Neville’s thoughts revealed he was associated with a group of origami-esque beings that could shift between Muggle cars and bipedal forms. The one called Hound had even gone so far as to shower the teen with affection over what appeared to be months. The kidnapping seemed to fall in line with the other kidnappings over the past year but for some reason, they had returned Neville unharmed. 

The police car (Autobot as they called themselves) warning kept playing through his head. Though Neville’s unintentional recount did fall in line with the false Harry’s story Albus still had no idea what they wanted. He saw a few humans in Neville’s memory but ‘Harry’s’ was sorely lacking. 

One thing they had in common was the size of their captures. All were larger transport vehicles of some kind. Which created yet another question: why was the fake Harry so small? Sighing through his nose Albus entered his slightly messy work area. Unhelpful books were now stacked next to the desk. The potentially helpful text was spread out over the desk with small scraps of parchment with notes laid about. Reaching into his brightly colored robes Albus produced today’s notes from the fake itself. He then pulled out a resealable bottle half-filled with the imposters ‘food’. 

‘If he is a spy he was a terrible one.’ Thought Albus giving the contents a look over. 

If he had to make an educated guess it was more star essence. Even such a small amount could power the clock at the Ministry for a millennia. Albus convinced him that he would be able to reproduce more so until they found something he could digest. The old wizard was planning on keeping the imposter around for as long as they needed. Taking the writings to his work area Albus glanced at the open pages of the second book in the pile. 

In ‘The Exhaustive and Invasive Life of Merlin’, there was a passage about metal golems that was frustratingly vague. King Arthur was worried the golems were created by a foreign country but they were gone after only a day. Merlin was put in charge of trying to recreate them but all attempts failed. The best they got were glorified toys designed to amuse the court. Even then they required more star essence than they were worth. 

Even if a shady group were to recreate Merlin’s failed attempts, why model it after a famous wizard? If their goal was infiltration they’d be better off using a Muggle-born first year. The weirdest part was how attached to the mirror it had in its pack. While grabbing the half-drunk bottle it took the mirror out of its backpack. When Albus went to examine it the fake made another inhuman noise. Taking it as a negative the wizard placed the mirror back down again. Best not to anger it for now. 

If that wasn’t suspicious enough it had the nerve to ask for something to read! Setting down the papers Albus picked up his spying mirror. It was sitting on the bed flexing and examining its fingers. 

‘What are you planning?’ Thought Albus setting down the mirror back on its easel. What Albus needed was someone to monitor it for him. Looking out over the lawns clear into the forest watching the birds or sometimes the deer peak out of the trees helped calm his nerves. Hard to believe unicorns, perma-werewolves, centaurs all managed to exist just beyond the tree line. Even now Sirus Black was wandering around in dog form trying to find signs of the blue car that kidnapped Neville. 

Albus blinked hard for a second as a thought occurred to him.

Of course. The answer was under his nose the whole time. Sirius Black would be the perfect candidate to oversee the imposter. He had his own house. Without any family around if the faker were to try anything, no innocents wouldn’t be caught in the crosshairs. Without a job, Sirius would be home all day and night. Easily the best part was if the replacement was imbued with Harry’s memories the replacement would recognize Sirius and act accordingly.

Planning on keeping up the ruse Albus made to order the fourth year text for classes like Care for Magical Creatures (Kettleburn era not Hagrid’s curriculum) and maybe a few books on lighter subjects. If he was going to be replaying back to its creators might as well be something that can’t be used against them. 

First, Albus was going to make a meet up just of ‘Harry’ and Sirius. Taking a deep breath through his nose he steadied his nerves for grabbing a quill. Not since dealing with Grimdawald had Albus felt so emotionally drained.  
\---

After the whirlwind of dealing with the car, an exhaustive interrogation, Sirius had agreed to live in the forest just encase the monster returned. Following the clear path created by the much larger metallic man, Sirus noticed that there was a clear beaten down path where the creature would circle the school. How could something so big go un-noticed for so long?  
The monster had even set up a nice dry shelter deep in the woods. That’s where Sirius was now resting during the light rain. As much as he hated to admit it, he liked the smell of Muggle machinery. Oil, petrol, various cleaning solvents. It was so different than the smells he grew up with. Snuffling he made himself comfortable while he waited for his daily update/meal. Just after the front door locked for the night he would approach the doors. Albus had a house-elf leave a small scroll with an update and a medium loaf of bread stuffed with meats and cheeses. Compared to how he lived last year this was paradise. 

“Sorry, it’s so small.” Came a tinny voice cutting through the rain. Sirius bolted to his feet. In the waning daylight, he saw them, three hulking metallic monsters. 

“We need to focus. That's my bitlit in there.” The white and black monster pointed towards the school. 

“I’m sure we can all talk this over peaceful.” Said a human walking out from behind the bright yellow monster. Upon seeing the human interacting so casually with the monsters Sirius growled. To his horror, the group now turned their attention to him. 

“Midnight. Never thought I’d see you again.” Said the hunter green metal man. He reached towards Sirus causing the animagus to take off running. The group made no move to stop him, but Sirius was running as hard as he could to put as much space between them as he could. Even when the school came into sight Sirius kept imagining a large hand grabbing him. As he got to the foot of the stairs the door opened to reveal the house-elf in charge of leaving food and messages for him.

Two steps from the top Sirius shifted from dog to human form scaring the elf. Not caring how he was towering over the small creature Sirius requested to see Dumbledore. 

“Wimbleton was told to only leave-”

“SOD WHAT YOU'VE BEEN TOLD THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!”

Wimbleton shook violently in his tunic made from abandoned house scarves. Taking a few shaky breathes the elf disappeared with a crack leaving Sirius alone. Semi-satisfied he turned to look at the deceptively still forest fully expecting the metal monsters to come barging out. Breath finally slowing down Sirius sat on the steps to keep watch.


End file.
